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