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An overview of employment law

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Ensuring your contractual arrangements with employees comply with employment legislation.

by Cass CCE — last modified Nov 05, 2010 10:30 AM

Employment legislation covers a range of topics. Some will be referenced via the drafting of your employment contracts, such as discipline and grievance procedures, holiday and sickness pay and leave.

Other major areas of employment legislation you may encounter include:

  • Working Time Regulations: ensuring that employees do not work hours in excess of the legal maximum and take sufficient holidays, breaks and time off
  • National Minimum Wage: providing a minimum hourly rate of pay categorised by age
  • Health and Safety: ensuring that employees are safe at work
  • Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employees (TUPE): apply when considering mergers or transfers of employees from or to your organisation
  • Public Interest Disclosure Act: gives legal protection to workers when whistle-blowing about wrongoing in the organisation
  • Redundancy: including consultation procedures, entitlement to statutory redundancy payments etc
  • Discrimination: the right to be treated fairly in all employment decisions
  • Parental rights: maternity/paternity/parental/adoption leave and dependants' leave for emergencies
  • Flexible working requests: for those with caring roles for children and other dependants
  • Right to request training: this applies to employers with over 250 employees from April 2010 and to all employers from April 1011
  • Immigration and work status: ensuring that your employees have the right to work in this country
  • Specific checks: for example those required for employees working with children or vulnerable adults in your organisation (that is, Criminal Records Bureau checks including Protection of Vulnerable Adults)
  • Data Protection Act: covering the information that may be kept for an employee
  • Information and Consultation of Employee Regulations: in certain circumstances this requires employers with more than 50 employees to consult with and inform employees about workplace issues.
  • Equality Act 2010: This came into force on 1 October 2010. See the Charity Commission's guide to the Equality Act.

Source: Published with permission from Cass Centre for Charity Effectiveness.This material is taken from "Tools for Success: doing the right things and doing them right", published in October 2008. Download or buy your copy from Cass Centre for Charity Effectiveness.

Useful links

Information and advice on procedure and practice can be found on the following websites:

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Comments (1)

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anitawiafe wrote on Jun 25, 2010 01:42 PM

From 6 April 2010 there will be employment law changes which includes:
- New rates of statutory maternity pay (SMP), statutory paternity pay (SPP) and statutory adoption pay (SAP) 2010.

-Additional paternity leave & pay for fathers
-Right to request time off for training

It is important to update your handbook with changes and also inform staff of changes. As the changes will come into effect from the 6th of April, you should make this the effcetive date.

If you want to find out a bit more detail visit our website:http://www.hr-oml.co.uk/Newsblogs/tabid/59/Default.aspx

You may also sign up to recieve HR Messenger, our newsletter providing HR news specifically for the Third Sector. We will cover all law changes in our April edition.

Additionally, ACAS and BERR are also a good source of information.

I hope this helps