Employment Practice

Key points Under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, which came into force on 2 July 1999, any worker who makes a so-called protected disclosure has the right not to be dismissed, selected for redundancy or subjected to any other detriment (demotion, forfeiture of opportunities for promotion or training, etc) for having done so. Any term in a contract of employment or other document (such as a 'worker's contract') which purports to undermine or override a worker 's right to make a protected disclosure is null and void. Note  The relevant provisions of the 1998 Act (commonly referred to as 'the Whistleblower 's Act') have been inserted as Part IVA (sections 43A to 43L) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Provisions in the 1998 Act relating to a worker's right not to be dismissed, selected for redundancy or subjected to any detriment for making a protected disclosure are to be found in sections 47B, 103A and 105 of the 1996 Act. The latter A

Key points Pregnant employees, breastfeeding mothers, and women who have given birth within the previous six months, enjoy a variety of rights under contemporary employment law and health and safety legislation. A pregnant employee has the right to be permitted a reasonable amount of paid time off work to attend at a clinic or similar place for ante-natal care. If her expected week of childbirth (EWC) begins on or after 6 April 2003, she has the right also to 26 weeks' ordinary maternity leave and, if she qualifies, a right to 26 weeks' additional maternity leave (beginning on the day immediately following the day on which her ordinary maternity leave period ends). If she has worked for her employer for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before her expected week of childbirth, and earns an average of £77 or more per week, she is entitled to up to 26 weeks' statutory maternity pay (SMP). Finally, she has the right to return to work with her employer after

Key points The term 'posted worker' is used to describe a worker who is sent from one EU Member State to another to carry out work (albeit for a limited period) in that other Member State. The relevance of the term is to be found in European Parliament and Council Directive 97/71/EC of 16 December 1996 'concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services'. The purpose of the Directive, which came into force in the UK on 16 December 1999, is to ensure that employers sending workers on temporary assignments to other EU countries, or tendering for contract work in another Member State, do not acquire a competitive edge by paying their workers less, or by offering terms and conditions below the legal minimum in that other Member State. A 'limited period', for these purposes, is a period of up to one year from the beginning of the posting (including any previous periods for which the post in question was filled by a posted worker).

Key points It is lawful for a person, in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute, to attend: at or near his own place of work, or if he is an official of a trade union, at or near the place of work of a member of that union whom he is accompanying and whom he represents, for the purpose only of peacefully obtaining or communicating information, or peacefully persuading any person to work or abstain from work. Picketing is not actionable in tort if it meets these criteria. But it  is  actionable as a form of industrial action if it does not have the support of a ballot or is done in order to put pressure on an employer to dismiss a non-union member (or to discriminate against him) or to 'persuade' him not to hire non-union workers (sections 219, 220 and 222, Trade Union & Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992). Note  For these purposes, an  official  of a trade union is a full-time officer of the union or of a branch or section of the union.