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 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 sectio...

Key points The written statement of employment particulars issued to an employee, when he (or she) first starts work with an employer, must include particulars of any terms and conditions relating to pensions and pensions schemes, and must include a note stating whether a contracting-out certificate under the Pension Schemes Act 1993 is in force for the employment in respect of which the statement is given (sections 1(4)(d)(iii) and 1(5), Employment Rights Act 1996). Information about pensions and pensions schemes If the employer has no occupational pension scheme, the written statement must say as much. If the employer does operate such a scheme, the statement must (a) mention its existence, and (b) indicate whether the employee is eligible to contribute to it, and on what terms. However, the statement need not go into any great detail, so long as it directs the employee to some other document (such as a pensions handbook) which explains what the employer's scheme is about and g...

Key points With the coming into force on 8 December 2002 of the Paternity & Adoption Leave Regulations 2002, the biological father (or the responsible parent) of a child born on or after 6 April 2003 (or expected to be born on or after that date) has the qualified right to take one or two consecutive weeks' paternity leave (either, but not both) within 56 days of the child's date of birth. That same right extends to one or other of the parents of a child notified of having been matched with them for adoption (or placed with them for adoption) on or after that same date. A parent who qualifies for paternity leave (birth or adoption) may also be entitled to statutory paternity pay (SSP) during his or her absence from work. To be eligible for paternity leave, an employee must: have been continuously employed by his employer for a period of not less than 26 weeks by the beginning of the 14th week before the expected week of the child's birth (or would have been continuou...

Key points With the coming into force on 1 July 2000 of the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000, any part- time worker who is treated less favourably (or believes that he (or she) has been treated less favourably) than a comparable full-time worker employed in the same establishment is entitled to demand and receive from his employer a written statement explaining the reasons for such treatment. If dissatisfied with his employer's explanations, the part- time worker may seek redress from an employment tribunal. Any part- timer who is dismissed, selected for redundancy or subjected to any other detriment for exercising or asserting his statutory rights under the 2000 Regulations, or for bringing proceedings before an employment tribunal, may complain (yet again) to an employment tribunal and will be awarded appropriate compensation. The 2000 Regulations (as amended by the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulati...