You may have something in writing from the organization you work for that suggests your employment status. However, how you and the organization work together in practice ultimately determines your employment status for employment law purposes. Under the law, all workers have a set of rights that have been carefully defined to ensure that all individuals are treated fairly by their employers. These rights, granted by the laws of the states of the United Kingdom, are called your statutory rights. In addition to the right to fair treatment, the Equality Act 2010 requires that people be treated equally unless there is a valid justification based on their gender, race, sexual orientation, creed and age. In order to combat social exclusion, employers must take positive account of the needs of people with disabilities. Part-time workers, temporary agency workers and people with fixed-term contracts are generally treated in the same way as full-time or permanent employees. [9] In order to combat unemployment, all workers have the right to appropriate dismissal before dismissal after a waiting period of one month, after two years they can only be dismissed for just cause and are entitled to severance pay if their activity was no longer economically necessary. [10] When a business is acquired or outsourced, the Transfer of Undertakings (Employment Protection) Regulations 2006 require that workers` conditions are not adversely affected without a valid economic, technical or organisational reason. The purpose of these rights is to guarantee people a dignified standard of living, whether or not they have the relative bargaining power to obtain good terms in their contract. [11] Legally, there is no probationary period.
Once you start working, the number of weeks you worked starts on the day you started, not when your probationary period ended. Your full contractual rights also began with your first day of work, unless your contract provides otherwise. In addition to union leadership through voting and elections, members have five essential legal rights. First, although the law states that a trade union is “not a corporation”, it is in every practical way: it can contract, commit a crime, hold property, prosecute and be prosecuted. [210] The managers and officers of the union act on its behalf and their actions are attributed to it in accordance with the usual principles of action. However, if a union official acts ultra vires that goes beyond the powers of the union, each member has the right to seek redress for the violation. [211] For example, in Edwards v. Halliwell,[212] the decision of the Executive Committee of the National Union of Vehicle Builders to increase membership fees was rejected because the Constitution initially required a two-thirds majority of members. [213] Second, section 28 of TULRCA 1992 requires unions to keep accounts in order to give a “true and fair” view of their financial affairs. The records are kept for six years, members have the right to inspect them, they are independently audited and monitored by the certifying officer. [214] Third, members have the right not to contribute to the union`s political fund, if any.
Since the early success of the British Labour Party in promoting workers` welfare through Parliament, courts and Conservative governments have sought to suppress the political voice of trade unions,[215] particularly in relation to the funding of employers through corporate control. [216] Under sections 72, 73 and 82 of the TULRCA 1992, a union must maintain a separate fund for all “political purposes” (such as advertising, lobbying or donations), members must approve the fund by vote at least every 10 years, and individual members have the right to opt out (as opposed to shareholders of corporations). Trade unions must also have political objectives in the constitution. [217] In 2010, only 29 out of 162 unions had political resources, although 57 percent of members contributed. This generated £22 million. [218] However, consolidated statistics on enterprise policy expenditure are not available. The right of workers to negotiate with employers a “fair daily wage for a fair day`s work” is considered a fundamental right at common law[227] in Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights[228] and in international law. [229] In the past, however, the United Kingdom had left the law largely unchanged by the procedure for concluding collective agreements and their content. [230] This began to change from 1971 onwards, although the United Kingdom remains comparatively “voluntary” unlike other Commonwealth, European or American countries.
In principle, it is always possible for an employer and a trade union to voluntarily join a collective agreement. Employers and unions typically seek a salary scale that is updated annually for employees, fair and flexible work schedules, leave and breaks, transparent and fair procedures for hiring or firing, fair and jointly managed pensions, and a commitment to cooperate for the success of the company. [231] In 2010, about 32% of the UK workforce was covered by a collective agreement, leaving about two-thirds of the UK workforce with little impact on working conditions. All British workers should be given an employment contract which forms the basis of their relationship. Employment law in the UK states that employers must provide employment contracts to employees within two months of starting work. In practice, however, many workers in the UK never receive a written contract. You are legally entitled to a written contract from your employer, so you can ask for one if you have not received anything. If you feel discriminated against in the workplace, you should first try to clarify this through your employer. You can talk to HR if your employer has one. If that doesn`t work, you can take legal action to an employment court. You can also contact Citizens Advice or Acas.
A fixed-term contract specifies a date on which it ends. If you have a fixed-term contract, your employer should not treat you differently from a permanent employee just because you are a temporary employee. They have the same legal rights as permanent employees. British labour law governs relations between employees, employers and trade unions. [2] People working in the UK benefit from a minimum charter of workers` rights[3], which are contained in various statutes, regulations, common law and equity. These include the right to a £8.21 minimum wage for persons over 25 under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998. [4] The Working Time Regulation 1998 gives entitlement to 28 days of paid leave, breaks and attempts to limit excessively long working hours. The Employment Rights Act 1996 provides the right to leave to care for children and the right to request flexible working arrangements. The Pensions Act 2008 provides the right to be automatically affiliated to a basic occupational pension, the funds of which must be protected under the Pensions Act 1995. As soon as a temporary worker is employed by a company for 12 weeks, he has the same rights as a full-time employee. The rights you have under your employment contract complement the rights you have under the law – for example, the right to payment of the national minimum wage and the right to paid leave. While “unfair” dismissal concerns breaches of the terms of an employment contract, “unfair” dismissal is an action based on sections 94 to 134A of the Employment Rights Act 1996.
[471] It regulates the grounds on which an employer terminates a contract and requires that they meet the legal definition of “fair.” .
