Employment Practice

Key points To qualify for most statutory rights in employment, an employee must be in continuous employment and must have been continuously employed for a specified period. That period is expressed in months or years - a month meaning a calendar month; and a year, a year of 12 calendar months. The rules are laid down in Part XIV, Chapter I (sections 210 to 219) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 - reproduced as the Appendix to this handbook. Following the decision of the House of Lords in R v Secretary of State for Employment, ex parte Equal Opportunities Commission [1994] ICR 317, and the subsequent introduction of the Employment Protection (Part-Time Employees) Regulations 1995, part-time employees are nowadays entitled to the same statutory employment rights as their full-time colleagues, and are subject to the same qualifying conditions for access to those rights. See also the section titled Part-time workers elsewhere in this handbook. The continuity of a peri...

Key points The role of the Advisory, Conciliation & Arbitration Service (ACAS) is to provide an independent and impartial service to prevent and resolve disputes between employers and employees. Conciliation officers appointed by ACAS have a statutory duty to promote settlements of complaints arising out of a breach (or alleged breach) of an employee's rights under contemporary employment and industrial relations legislation which are or could be the subject of proceedings before the employment tribunals (per Part IV, Chapter IV of the Trade Union & Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and sections 18 and 19 of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996). If there is a dispute between an employer and an employee concerning an alleged infringement of one or other of the employee's statutory rights (including his or her right not to be unfairly dismissed), either party to that dispute may request a conciliation officer to make his (or her) services availab...

Key points The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) which replaced the former Race Relations Board and the Community Relations Commission, was established by section 43 of the Race Relations Act 1976. The CRE has at least eight (but not more than 15) Commissioners, including a chairman and one or more deputy chairmen, all appointed on a full-time or part-time basis by the Secretary of State for Employment. The duties of the CRE are to work towards the elimination of racial discrimination and to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between different racial groups. It monitors observance of the 1976 Act and is empowered to conduct investigations, serve non- discrimination notices, and to apply to the court for an injunction or order against persistent offenders. The CRE may also issue codes of practice containing practical guidance on methods for the elimination of discrimination in the field of employment. Power of the CRE to obtain information The CRE...

Key points A collective agreement (as defined by section 178 of the Trade Union & Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992) is an agreement or arrangement between one or more employers (or employers' associations) and one or more trade unions dealing with one or other of the following matters: 'terms and conditions of employment, or the physical conditions in which any workers are required to work; engagement or non-engagement, or termination or suspension of employment or the duties of employment, of one or more workers; allocation of work or the duties of employment between workers or groups of workers; matters of discipline; a worker's membership or non-membership of a trade union; facilities for officials of trade unions; and machinery for negotiation or consultation, and other procedures, relating to any of the above matters, including the recognition by employers or employers' associations of the right of a trade union to represent...

Key points An 'approved' code of practice is a document (approved, in most instances, by Parliament) that contains practical guidance on the law. In the context of employment law, a code of practice interprets the duties and responsibilities of employers and the rights of employees under this or that statute and/or its associated regulations and orders. Legal status of a code of practice A failure on the part of any person (employer, trade union official, or employee) to observe any provision of an approved Code of Practice does not of itself render him (or her) liable to proceedings before a court or tribunal. But in such proceedings, that failure is admissible in evidence and, if any provision of the code appears to the court or tribunal to be relevant to any question arising in the proceedings, it shall be taken into account in deciding that question. In other words, the codes of practice referred to in this section have much the same status as has the Hi...

Key points Meaning of 'closed shop' In simple terms, a closed shop (or union membership agreement) is an understanding or agreement between an employer and one or more trade unions whereby the employer agrees not to employ (or to continue to employ) any person who is not a member of one or other of the trade unions party to that agreement. Protection of job applicants and existing employees Nowadays, the closed shop is a legal irrelevancy. It can no longer be used as an excuse for denying a person a job or for dismissing (or disciplining) a person who refuses to be or remain a member of a trade union (even if the union in question is recognised by the employer as having bargaining rights in respect of a particular class or group of employees). Furthermore, an employer cannot lawfully demand a payment from a non-union employee (or presume to make a deduction from that employee's wages or salary) as an alternative to the payment of trade union dues. In sho...

Key points A child is a person who is not over 'compulsory school age'. In England and Wales a child who turns 16 during a school year cannot lawfully leave school until the last Friday in June. A child who turns 16 after that last Friday in June, but before the beginning of the next school year, may likewise lawfully leave school on that last Friday in June. In Scotland, a child who turns 16 during the period from 1 March to 30 September, inclusive, may leave school on 31 May of that same year. Children whose 16th birthdays occur outside that period must remain at school until the first day of the Christmas holidays. These provisions are currently to be found in section 8 of the Education Act 1996, supported by the Education (School Leaving Date) Order 1997, and (for Scotland) in section 31 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980. Given the many restrictions on the employment of school-age children, employers (or would-be employers) who have doubts about the t...

Key points The Central Arbitration Committee (or CAC) is the senior standing arbitration tribunal in Great Britain. A successor to both the Industrial Court (set up in 1919) and the Industrial Arbitration Board (1971), the CAC's constitution and independent status are presently described in sections 259 to 265 of the Trade Union & Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. The CAC comprises a Chairman and one or more deputy chairmen appointed by the Secretary of State (after consultation with ACAS and other persons) and several members experienced in industrial relations also appointed by the Secretary of State. Those other members (apart from the Chairman) must include some persons whose experience is as representatives of employers and some whose experience is as representatives of workers. Members will normally hold office for a maximum of five years. Cases brought before the CAC are normally heard by the Chairman (or one of the deputy chairmen) and two me...

Canteens and Rest Rooms for Employees Key points Whether or not employers are legally-bound to provide their workers with dedicated canteens or rests room will depend in large part on the type of activity or process in which an employer is engaged. Regulation 25(5) of the Workplace (Health, Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1992 - that apply to every workplace - states that 'suitable and sufficient facilities shall be provided for persons at work to eat meals where meals are regularly eaten in the workplace'. By way of explanation, the accompanying Approved Code of Practice points out that 'seats in work areas can be counted as eating facilities provided they are in a sufficiently clean place and there is a suitable surface on which to place food. Eating facilities', it continues, 'should include a facility for preparing or obtaining a hot drink, such as an electric kettle, a vending machine or a canteen'. Furthermore, 'workers who work ...