Why You Should Study UK Employment Law

What are the Main Employment Laws in the UK?

Here is a list of crucial employment legislation in the UK so that you can keep on top of them. These are a core set of acts that embody the main parts of employment law. You should regularly remind yourself of these laws and your responsibilities as an employer, so you are far less likely to break them inadvertently. (Also, you will find all the following acts in GOV.UK and in legislation.gov.uk).

Employment Rights Act 1996 

Employment Rights Act 1996  is an update to older Labour Law, this act covers the rights of employees in situations such as dismissal, unfair dismissal, paternity leave, maternity leave, and redundancy.

National Minimum Wage Act 1998

This act sets out the National Minimum Wage for employees and employers across the UK. The government regularly reviews this to keep it in line with inflation.

Employment Relations Act 1999

Employment Relations Act 1999 establishes several rights at work for trade union recognition, de-recognition, and industrial actions.

The Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 prevents discrimination in the workplace and the recruitment process. It identifies protected characteristics that cannot be used as a reason for any workplace decisions—unless it is to make suitable arrangements to accommodate them in the workplace.

Health and Safety legislation

While not exactly employment law, health and safety legislation also impacts employer and employee relationships. You need to comprehend your responsibilities towards health and safety in the workplace when traversing employee issues. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is the main piece of legislation covering occupational health and safety measures in the UK. It is otherwise known as HSWA, the HSW Act, the 1974 Act, or HASAWA.

These acts place a duty on employers to protect the health, safety, and welfare of employees while at work. This applies to all of those on the business property, from workers and temps to clients and the general public. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) was set up under HASAWA. They enforce these duties and penalise non-compliance.

The Basic Employment Rights for a Worker in Health and Safety

The legislation outlines that all employees or workers have three fundamental rights when it comes to health and safety in the workplace.

1. The Right to Know

Employers must ensure they make their employees or workers aware of the hazards presented by people, equipment, the environment, or processes. And they must receive training and information about hazardous aspects of the workplace.

2. The Right to Participate

Employees can be involved in identifying, assessing, and controlling health and safety hazards.

3. The Right to Refuse Unsafe Work

It allows employees to refuse work they believe is likely to endanger themselves or others. In addition, the act protects workers from retaliation should they refuse. While not strictly employment law, this shows that these rights and acts can influence employee and employer relationships. For example, dismissal for refusal to work in an unsafe environment would be unlawful under the health and safety act rather than employment law.

Other Important Employment Legislations

There are also other pieces of UK legislation that, although not solely related to employment law, contain key employment law information. These are:

The Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999

Statutory legislation that governs the rights of employees to have time off work for parents with new babies.

Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000

A UK labour law measure that requires that employers give people on part-time contracts comparable treatment to people on full-time contracts who do the same jobs.

Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006

Protection of existing employees’ rights and any employment contracts or promises when a company goes through a business transfer.

Bribery Act 2010

Covers the criminal law relating to any act of bribery. It’s a serious issue in any working environment and requires vigilance to avoid.

Data Protection Act 2018

Data Protection Act 2018 is a national law complementing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 1998. It regulates how your business stores employee and customer information, and it is crucial that the relevant parties are trained in it.

Working Time Regulations 1998

This contains important rules you should follow, particularly the working hours and holidays that staff are entitled to.

Agency Workers Regulations 2010

Statutory legislation that prevents discrimination against people who work for employment agencies. Treat them equally in pay and working time when compared to full-time counterparts who do the same work.