Employment Law
We advise employees on a wide range of employment law rights & employment law claims which include :-
- Contracts of Employment
- Equal Opportunities
- Sex discrimination
- Race discrimination
- Religious discrimination
- Disability Discrimination
- Discipline and Grievance
- Maternity and parental leave
- Unfair deduction of salary
- Termination of Employment
- Unfair dismissal
- Constructive dismissal
- Redundancy dismissal
- Compromise Agreements
Holiday
Full time employees are entitled to a minimum 5 weeks 3 days annual leave, including bank and public holidays. Part time workers entitlement is pro rata.
Discrimination
Employees may not be discriminated against due to their race, sex, sexual orientation, religion or age in areas including recruitment, pay, terms and conditions of employment, promotion, benefits, redundancy.
Disability discrimination
The definition of disability is a technical one, and often the cause of dispute between employer and employee. The legal definition of disability is that it is a physical or mental impairment, which has substantial adverse effects that are long term on normal day to day activities.
Disabled employees have the right to have “reasonable adjustments” made to their working environment to reduce any difficulties arising as a result of the disability.
An employer must not discriminate on grounds of disability against an employee:
- in the terms of the employment,
- in opportunities for promotion, transfer, training or other benefits,
- by refusing such an opportunity,
- by dismissing that person or subjecting him or her to any other detriment.
Discipline & grievances
Employers are required to have policies & procedures at least to a set level of statutory compliance including that the written terms of employment set out :-
- Basic disciplinary rules & procedure
- Procedure for the employee to raise a grievance
Unfair dismissal
An employee (subject to exceptions) cannot claim unfair dismissal unless he or she has been continuously employed for 12 months. There are 4 main general statutory defences an employer may raise to justify a dismissal in response to a claim for unfair dismissal. These are:-
- Lack of capability
- Misconduct;
- Redundancy;
- Some other substantial reason.
Redundancy
The general definition of a legitimate redundancy is where a dismissal is wholly or mainly because the employer has closed, the employer has moved away or the type of work the employee did has diminished. This definition seems straightforward, but as with all things legal, it is not so straightforward. The employee has the right to be consulted and for the selection process for choosing (if a choice is required) the employee to be reasonable
Dismissed employees are entitled to a redundancy payment if they have been dismissed wholly or mainly because of redundancy.
Minimum wage
A worker must be paid at least:-
- For age 22 and over, £5.80 per hour
- For age 18 to 21, £4.83 per hour
- For age 16 to 17, £3.57 per hour
Deductions from pay
An employer may not make a deduction from a worker’s pay unless:-
- It is authorised by statute;
- It is authorised by the worker’s contract; or
- The worker has previously agreed in writing.
The above does not apply to repayment of an overpayment of wages but care has to be taken with this especially if the employer may have misled the employee.
Working time regulations
The maximum working week is 48 hours including overtime over a seven day period averaged over four months. It is possible for employers and employees to agree that the employee will work a longer period. There are specific rules relating to recording of hours and the requirement for a written agreement.