EMPLOYMENT LAWEMPLOYMENT LAW

EMPLOYMENT LAW: SESSION EMPLOYMENT LAW: SESSION PLANPLANThe purpose of employment lawDiscrimination lawDismissal lawHealth and safety lawHours and wagesFamily-friendly employment lawWhistle-blowing lawEnforcementHR and employment law

What you need to doWhat you need to do

This presentation will provide a general overview of employment law

Once we have briefly discussed the slides you will be working in small groups. Each group will carry out more detailed research into one area.

Your findings are to be presented as a poster display forming a time-line around the room

THE PURPOSE OF EMPLOYMENT THE PURPOSE OF EMPLOYMENT LAWLAW

To deter employers from treating their employees unfairly or from exploiting them unjustly

To help make work more attractive to people

To promote flexibility in the labour market

Like this ?Like this ?

THE PURPOSE OF EMPLOYMENT LAW

In practice most employment law exists to protect employees from unjust exploitation or unfair treatment by their employers.

It is necessary because for the vast majority of workers, the employment relationship is very unequal in terms of the power that each side is able to exercise over the other.

THE PURPOSE OF EMPLOYMENT LAW

Employers are vastly more powerful, making it relatively easy for them to abuse that power by treating their employees poorly, by dismissing them or discriminating against them for no good reason, underpaying and overworking them, or causing them to risk their heath, safety and welfare while at work.

In the early and middle years of the 20th century trade unions tended to offer employees a much greater level of protection than they are now able to, and so to an extent the state has had to step in to provide protection of the kind that strong unions with high levels of membership were once able to provide.

There are, however, two major further reasons behind employment regulation in today's economic context. 1.Governments want to use employment law to promote good practice in the employment relationship. 2.Governments want to promote flexibility and competition in the labour market

DISCRIMINATION LAWDISCRIMINATION LAWThere are four headings under which an employer's actions can be challenged in court:

direct discrimination (eg failing to promote a woman because she is a woman)indirect discrimination (eg requiring a devout employee to work on a holy day)victimization (eg refusing to give a reference to a former employee who brought a race discrimination claim against the organization)harassment (eg teasing someone about their sexual orientation)

DISMISSAL LAWDISMISSAL LAW

Former employees who have completed more than two years service (one year if employed prior to April 2012) are entitled to seek compensation or re-instatement when they have been unfairly dismissed

HEALTH AND SAFETY LAWHEALTH AND SAFETY LAW

There are two distinct parts to health and safety law:

1. the criminal law, which is enforced by health and safety inspectors

2. personal injury law under which workers who suffer an injury at work or fall ill as a result of their work can sue their employer for damages

HOURS AND WAGESHOURS AND WAGES

Two main legal provisions are:

The Working Time Regulations 1998

National Minimum Wage regulations

FAMILY-FRIENDLY EMPLOYMENT LAWFAMILY-FRIENDLY EMPLOYMENT LAW

The major family-friendly rights that applied in 2013 were as follows for most employees:up to one year of maternity or adoptive leavenine months of maternity or adoptive paythe right to paid time off to attend ante-natal appointments

two week's statutory paternity leaveadditional paternity leave of up to

32 weeks once after a new mother has returned to work

the right to time off to deal with family emergencies

eighteen weeks unpaid parental leave during the first five year's of a child's life

the right to request a change of contract in order to work more flexibly

WHISTLE-BLOWING LAWWHISTLE-BLOWING LAW

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 protects employees who make a ‘protected disclosure’ from being treated badly or being dismissed

ENFORCEMENTENFORCEMENT

Aggrieved employees and former employees can bring cases relating to the alleged breach of an employment statute before their local Employment Tribunal

HR AND EMPLOYMENT LAWHR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW

Employment law has a major impact on

the way that HR managers approach their work

Have we achieved Equal Pay?Have we achieved Equal Pay?

http://www.striking-women.org/module/workplace-issues-past-and-present/gender-pay-gap-and-struggle-equal-pay

http://www.equalpayportal.co.uk/statistics/

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1811

http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/equal-pay.aspx