Category: Employment Relationship

Various Statutory Records Various pieces of legislation in England and Wales require the keeping of staff records.   Records are required to be kept for the following: Hours worked under Working Time Regulations; Pay rates, in order to issue pay statements and meet minimum wages legislation; Tax and national insurance requirements; Holidays to comply with working […]

Procedures It is highly advisable that a business maintains written dismissal, disciplinary and grievance rules and procedures.  Failure to have and follow the requisite procedures, increases risks in various contexts, including in particular, in the area of unfair dismissals. An employer is  obliged to inform each employee of its disciplinary rules, the disciplinary/dismissal procedures and […]

Initial Taxation Obligations An employer must deduct income tax and National Insurance contributions for all employees and directors.  This applies to full and part-time employees and temporary and casual employees.  No obligation generally arises in the case of genuinely self-employed contractors.  There are exceptions, notably in many sections of the building industry where tax may […]

Interview and Job Offer Certain legal issues can arise at the interview and pre-employment stage. There are obligations under equality legislation to make sure that employment candidates are not excluded from employment because of gender, appearance, ethnicity, name, religion, accent etc. An unsuccessful job applicant can make an application to an Employment Tribunal under anti-discrimination […]

Distinction A key distinction in employment law is between a “contract for services” and an employment contract. A contract for services is provided by an independent contractor i.e. someone in business on his own account.  An employee is somebody who works under the terms of an employment contract. There can sometimes be a thin dividing […]

Fixed Term Employees A fixed term contract is one for a specified time, specified task or one which ends when a specified event does or does not take place.  An example would be a retail business taking on extra staff coming up to Christmas.  Unless special circumstances apply, employees on fixed-term contracts must be treated […]

General To a large extent, employers and employees are free to agree on the details of their relationship. Certain mandatory terms and conditions are implied by law. These conditions and rights cannot be varied by the terms of the employment contract. Terms may also be implied by custom and practice in the absence of an […]

General As in Ireland, there is no legal requirement for an employer to operate a pension scheme in England and Wales  If there is no employer-sponsored pension scheme, there are obligations to make a stakeholder pension arrangement available for contributions by the employee, in much the same way as a PRSA must be made available […]

General Pension contribution rules are broadly similar in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The principal types of pension schemes are Occupational Schemes and Personal Pension schemes. An occupational scheme is one provided by an employer.  An individual may join an employer’s scheme or opt to set up a personal pension scheme. He/she may also contribute […]

Minimum Notice The minimum notice periods required to terminate an employment contract are laid down by law. An employee who has worked for 1 month or more, must give and receive notice of termination of employment. These periods must be set out in the written employment particulars to be made available on the commencement of […]

Basis of Wrongful Dismissal There are two bases upon which an employee can complain about dismissal. Wrongful dismissal or termination, is a claim for breach of the employment contract. Generally, there will be no claim for wrongful dismissal if an employment contract has been terminated in accordance with its terms. There may, however, be a […]

Overview It is usually possible for an employer to terminate an employment contract at common law by simply giving the appropriate period of notice to terminate. There does not have to be a good reason or any reason at all.  Because of the potential unfairness of this position, legislation was introduced to allow most employees […]

Procedures The time limit for lodging a claim with the Employment Tribunal is three months, less one day, from the effective date of termination of the contract of employment. This time limit will only be extended by a further three months, if the internal appeal is still ongoing after that date. In the event of […]

General An Employer must give a lump sum redundancy payment to individuals who are made redundant, who have at least two years’ continuous service and who meet certain other conditions.  Employees qualify for redundancy payments if they work under a contract of employment. The employment must be terminated, in order for redundancy rights to apply. […]

General It is desirable for a business to produce a staff handbook setting out rules and procedures which staff need to know. A Handbook will help employees understand what is expected of them and how they should carry out their activities. A Handbook should include clear policies on important employment matters. It should  help the […]

Entitlement to Work An employer has a legal responsibility to prevent illegal working.  He must ensure that the employee is entitled to work in the United Kingdom. It is essential to undertake document checks on potential recruits.  The UK contains a range of racial and ethnic backgrounds. An individual’s race or ethnicity origin is no […]

Deductions The conditions under which deductions may be made from salary and wages are prescribed by the Employment Rights Act.  A claim for breach of the legislation may be brought to an Employment Tribunal or the civil courts. The civil court claim is for breach of contract. Ordinary contract law principles apply to non-payment for […]