Different Employment Rights
There are three main sets of employment rights available to an employee under UK law:
Contractual rights – these are those rights set out in an employee’s contract of employment, such as job title, holiday entitlement, notice period and right to be paid salary and other benefits. Rights can be expressly set out or implied. For example, there is an implied term of mutual trust and confidence in every contract of employment. The breakdown of trust and confidence between an employee and an employer is one of the most commonly cited reasons in constructive dismissal cases. When we prepare you contracts of employment we can run through all of these with you.
Common law rights – these are those rights that derive from the general law in relation to treatment by an employer towards an employee such as negligence or defamation.
Statutory rights – these are those additional rights that can be found in UK statute. These types of claims can normally be pursued in an employment tribunal. Typically these types of rights are:
- - the right not to be unfairly dismissed (usually only available to those employees with more than two years’ service.);
- - the right to a statutory redundancy payment (only available to those with more than two years’ service);
- - the right not to suffer unlawful deductions from wage;
- - the right to receive the minimum wage
- - various maternity, paternity and family friendly rights
- - the right not to be discriminated against contrary to the Equality Act 2010. This covers direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation. It applies to discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, religion or belief, sexual orientation, and disability to name a few.
- Please note this is not an exhaustive list.
When you work with us we keep you up to date with all advances in employment law and ensure that any actions that you take are legally sound and comply with your legal obligations. This enables you to take decisions confidently and to concentrate on efficiently run your business whilst we assist you with the legal aspects of employee matters. We deliver all advice in plain English with a commercial edge taking into account your needs and desired business strategy.
