Employment Law

The rights of employees and employers alike

Employment law is in place to ensure that anyone in employment is treated fairly and is able to do their job in a safe and reasonable working environment. It’s vital to know your employment rights if you feel your employer is failing on any of these counts.

Who is entitled to employment rights?

Everyone in work has certain employment rights. Even if you do not have a contract with your employer, you still have certain statutory rights under law which cannot be ignored or signed away. Depending on the sort of work you do, you might have more rights or different rights, but there will always be some basic laws to defend you.

There also specific laws in place to protect particular types of worker, which may be defined by the particulars of your employment (temporary workers or apprentices, for example) or your personal situation (child workers or migrants). Agricultural workers also have a different set of rights.

What are the basic employment rights?

Some rights are applicable to all workers, or almost all. These rights include the National Minimum Wage, limitations on how many hours you can be required to work, and adherence to health and safety regulations to ensure you are not in danger at work.

You also have the right to an employment contract after working for your employer for more than one month. This should set out other rights that your employer has chosen to grant you, in addition to setting out their expectations of you. It is likely to deal with issues such as sick pay, holiday entitlements, and disciplinary procedures and dismissal.

If your employer promises something in your contract, they are obliged to deliver on this, even if it goes beyond your basic employment rights. They will normally be required to consult with you if they intend on changing your contract, and the terms of your contract cannot cancel out your basic employment rights.