1E9Ct5D

IV Employment,pensions andimmigration1. Employment1. OverviewIn the UK the relationship between anemployer and an employee is governed by:• the express terms of the contract;• implied terms under common law;• statutory rights.2. DiscriminationUnder the Equality Act 2010, it is unlawful foran employer to discriminate on grounds ofrace, sex, disability, religion or belief, marriageor civil partnership, sexual orientation, genderreassignment, pregnancy and maternity orage. There is no service requirement forbringing a claim under the discriminationlegislation and no limit on the amount ofcompensation which an Employment Tribunalcan award.3. Minimum wageEmployers must pay their workers (whichincludes part-time, casual, freelance andtemporary workers) a minimum of £6.08 perhour (to increase to £6.19 on 1 October 2012).A separate rate of £4.98 per hour applies to18-20 year olds and those aged 21 or over andon accredited training. A further rate of £3.68per hour applies to 16 and 17 year olds.4. Working timeFollowing the implementation of the EUWorking Time Directive in the UK, employersmust ensure that their workers do not workmore than an average of 48 hours each week.It is possible to opt out of the 48 hour workingweek through individual agreements with theworker. All workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks’paid holiday each calendar year but employerscan stipulate that bank or public holidays areincluded (there is no general ‘right’ to be paidfor bank or public holidays or to receive higherwages for working on those days). Workersare also entitled to daily and weekly restbreaks and subject to night work limits.5. BenefitsThere is no statutory requirement for anemployer to provide benefits such aspermanent health insurance, private medicalhealth insurance, life assurance, etc. Mostemployers must, however, provide a pensionscheme for their workforce, in respect of whichsee below.6. Data protectionThe Data Protection Act 1998 applieswhenever personal data is processed by anydata controller. Most, if not all, employers aredata controllers and must comply with the eightData Protection Principles under the Act.Amongst other rights, employees have a rightof access to their personal information, andthis includes data held on manual files. Failureto comply with the Act can result in criminaland civil liabilities.7. Terms of employmentEvery employee is entitled to a writtenstatement of terms of their employment withintwo months of starting work (providing the termof employment is for more than one month).The written statement of terms must containdetails of the names of the parties, hours ofwork, place of work, date of commencement,date when continuous employment began,pay, job title or job description, holidayentitlement, length of notice, entitlement to sickpay, pension arrangements (if any), whether acontracting-out certificate is in force in respectof state pension, a note specifying anydisciplinary rules and grievance procedure anddetails of any collective agreements in place.An employer cannot prevent an employeebelonging to and taking an active part in anindependent trade union.8. Redundancies and businesstransfersIf an employer intends to make collectiveredundancies and/or sell part or all of itsbusiness, the employer must inform andconsult with representatives elected by theemployees or representatives of anindependent trade union recognised by theemployer. The employer must also notify theDepartment for Business Innovation and Skills(BIS) of redundancies in certaincircumstances.PAGE 16