Employment Practice

Notice of Termination of Employment ( Statutory minimum notice ) Key points The written statement of employment particulars (often referred to as the 'contract of employment'), given to an employee when he (or she) first starts work with an employer, must include particulars of 'the length of notice which the employee is obliged to give and entitled to receive to determine his contract of employment' (section 1(4)(e), Employment Rights Act 1996). Notice to be given by the employer By section 86(1) of the 1996 Act, a person who has been continuously employed for a period of  one month or more  is entitled to receive the following minimum notice from his employer to terminate his (or her) contract of employment: at least one week's notice of termination if he has been continuously employed for less than two calendar years; at least one week's notice of termination for each complete calendar year of continuous employment, if he has been continuously employed for ...

Most organisations use notices and notice boards to convey much of the information that they feel their employees should have, in order to keep them informed. Unfortunately, very often there is no control over the issuing of notices and many notice boards become swamped, with the effectiveness of new material impaired by numerous old notices, many of which may be well past their effective date. The challenge is to keep notices fresh and uncluttered so that notice boards are read, rather than passed by. This may be easier with electronic notice boards operated via an intranet but research indicates that most people do not like reading on-screen text. Procedure Whether traditional or electronic notice boards are used, the following guidance may be helpful in attempting to keep the messages required to be displayed, fresh and pertinent. Suggested Checklist 1. To be effective, data for display must be written in the language and for the understanding of the recipient, and be presented in a...

Until the early 1990s, wage rates for many industries were set by industry-specific Wages Councils most of which have been abolished. The introduction of a National Minimum Wage (NMW) returns employers to the type of controls set out above but with one marked difference. Wages Councils operated within each industry and could reflect the terms of business of those industries. The NMW applies across the UK and has severe implications in industries which operate on low margins. It also ignores the lower cost of living in parts of the UK. Implementation The NMW is currently £4.85 per hour (October 2004) and is reviewed annually. This rate paid cannot be varied on any basis (e.g. area, region, business size, occupation) except age (as set out below). No doubt the rate will continue to rise but no commitment (e.g. to link it with the Retail Price Index or any other index) has been given. There is no requirement to pay NMW when the worker is taking part in industrial action - this is regarded...