Swindon Solicitors

Although it is standard for employer and employee to agree specific terms & conditions in an employment contract, employment law is heavily regulated and employees have many rights at work that the employer is legally obliged to comply with. Some of the main employee rights are :-

• Employment contract – a written statement of employment terms within 2 months of starting work. This must include details such as place of work, hours and benefits.
• Pay records – detailing earnings and deductions at every pay period from the start date.
• Minimum wage -The right to be paid the minimum wage and not to have unauthorised deductions of pay.
• Time off work – in addition to 4 weeks holiday entitlement per year (if working full time) and subject in some cases to time off being paid or unpaid and appropriate notice given to the employer, there is a statutory right to time off  for trade union duties and activities, study and training (if under 18) and parental responsibilities.
• Health & Safety – all employers must ensure that the employees have a  safe working environment, both physical and mental. This area would also cover maximum working hours and rest breaks.
• Equality – every employee has the right not to be discriminated against on grounds of sex, race or religion, disability, sexual orientation and age, which includes the right not to be discriminated against on job applications and the employment selection process.
• Full time/part time/fixed term contract -Employees generally  have the right to the same contractual rights (pro-rata) whether part-time, fixed term or full-time worker.
• Not to be unfairly dismissed –employers are required to have set procedures and to fairly and fully comply with such procedures, which must not be less than statutory requirements, before dismissing an employee. Unfair dismissal also includes constructive unfair dismissal, which is where an employee resigns due to a fundamental breach of contract. In order to claim unfair dismissal, the general rule, subject to exceptions, is that you need to have 1 year continuous employment with the employer. A dismissal may be judged unfair by an Employment Tribunal based on either procedural fairness or in terms of the underlying justification for dismissal.
• Retirement age – this generally means the right not to be dismissed prior to the standard retirement age of 65.
• Employment contract terms – the general principle is that any alterations or variations to a contract of employment must be agreed by both employer and employee. In other words, the employer cannot simply force the employee to accept different terms than originally agreed

The above rights include perhaps the most important rights but there are others. It is important to note that some can be altered by agreement with your employer, others not. Please also note that due to the inherent inequality of bargaining power between employer and employee for most jobs i.e the employer holds the upper hand at the time of recruitment, employment tribunals and courts will sometimes interfere with, water down or overturn parts of employment contract if certain clauses are considered unreasonable

We suggest you read any contract of employment carefully, don’t be afraid to negotiate and if necessary, take legal advice.