{"id":176763,"date":"2022-10-11T16:10:36","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T15:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/?p=176763"},"modified":"2023-02-17T02:56:08","modified_gmt":"2023-02-17T02:56:08","slug":"here-are-five-of-the-most-important-aspects-of-employment-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/employment\/here-are-five-of-the-most-important-aspects-of-employment-law\/","title":{"rendered":"I am an Employer in the UK. What Are Five Key Things I Should Know About Employment Law?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Employment law can be a minefield for many employers because it covers a vast area and frequently changes. However, as an employer, you will want to abide by your legal obligations. Failure to do so can open your business up to employment tribunal claims, which may result in severe financial penalties. This article will explain five key points all employers should know about employment law in the UK.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Health and Safety at Work and Employment Law<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As an employer, you are under a legal duty to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of your staff at work. For example, you should provide:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">clean drinking water;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">toilet and washing facilities;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">a ventilated work environment;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">a well-lit work site; and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">equipment that is safe and well-maintained.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You are also legally required to have a health and safety policy in place for your workplace if you employ five or more staff. This is a written statement detailing your health and safety policies . You should carry out a workplace <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/employment\/workplace-safety-assessments\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">health and safety risk assessment<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to determine what your workplace risks are, which will help you understand what to place in your policy. Whilst you are not required to have a health and safety policy in place if you have less than five employees, it is good practice to do so nonetheless.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Notably, conducting health and safety checks and drafting policy is difficult if you do not have any relevant experience. Thus, many businesses will hire health and safety consultants and a legal team to arrive at a tailored solution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The National Minimum Wage and Employment Law<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You are legally required to pay your staff a minimum wage, as calculated on an hourly basis. The National Minimum Wage changes annually from April, so be aware of any updates and wage increases. As an employer, it is your legal duty to understand these updates and pay your staff accordingly. Importantly, it is no defence to say you were unaware that the national minimum wage had increased.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The current National Minimum Wage rates are set out in the following table:<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><b>Staff aged over 23 years<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a39.50 per hour (this is the National Living Wage)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><b>Staff aged 21-22 years<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a39.18 per hour<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><b>Staff aged 18-20<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a36.83 per hour<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><b>Staff aged 16-17<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a34.81 per hour<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><b>First-year apprentices and any apprentice under 19 years old<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a34.81 per hour\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Note, these figures differ if you employ staff in London).<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Not all benefits your employees receive count towards their minimum wage. For instance, the following are examples of benefits that may not be included when calculating your employees\u2019 wage:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">service charges;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">tips;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">gratuities; and\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">cover charges.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<a href=\"#content-next\"\n   class=\"block p-4 mt-10 text-xl font-bold text-center text-white no-underline bg-gray-800 rounded-t-xl\">\n    Continue reading this article below the form\n    <i class=\"text-xl fa-regular fa-arrow-down\"><\/i>\n<\/a>\n<div class=\"px-6 pt-10 pb-12 mb-10 text-center bg-gray-100 rounded-b-xl sm:px-12 test\">\n    <div class=\"mb-8 text-2xl font-bold text-orange\">\n        Need legal advice?\n        <br>\n        <span class=\"text-lg 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For example, as a general rule, you cannot require your staff to work more than 48 hours per week. If your employee works another job, hours worked in the other job may contribute to this maximum limit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In practice, you can circumvent this requirement by adding a provision in the employment contract. This provision states that the employee agrees to opt out of the 48-hour weekly limit. Separately, while your staff are at work, you must ensure you provide them with their legal entitlement to rest breaks. For every six hours of work, they are entitled to at least one 30-minute break.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Finally, your staff are also legally entitled to paid holiday leave each year, which is currently a minimum of 5.6 weeks per year. You should apply this equally to your part-time workers but on a pro-rata basis. There are exceptions to this rule. For instance, workers on zero-hours contracts are not necessarily entitled to holidays.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Unlawful Discrimination in <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Employment Law\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As an employer, you must be aware that it is illegal to unlawfully discriminate against your employees. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/employment\/employment-discrimination\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Unlawful discrimination<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> means any discrimination along certain protected characteristics, including:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">race;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">age;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">disability;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">sex;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">religion;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">sexual orientation;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">pregnancy and maternity;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">gender reassignment; and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">marriage and civil partnership.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Likewise, contractors and freelancers are also entitled to similar protections from discrimination.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Direct vs Indirect Discrimination in Employment Law<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The law distinguishes between two principal forms of unlawful discrimination:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">direct discrimination; and\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">indirect discrimination.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Direct discrimination is where you treat one worker differently from another on the basis of a protected characteristic. For instance, if you refused to promote an employee because they were Muslim, this would be direct discrimination.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Indirect discrimination is when you apply a universal policy that unfairly impacts someone because they possess a protected characteristic. For example, say you only promoted individuals that voluntarily worked on Saturdays. As a result, you do not promote a Jewish employee that does not work on Saturdays for religious reasons. Though you did not intend for this policy to discriminate, it nonetheless had a discriminatory effect.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maternity Leave and Pay in Employment Law\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If an employee becomes pregnant, they gain additional legal rights under <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/employment\/maternity-leave\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">maternity leave and pay laws<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pregnant employees are entitled to 52 weeks of Statutory Maternity Leave, divided into 26 initial weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave followed by 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave. Even if your staff do not wish to take their maternity leave, they are legally obligated to take it two weeks immediately following the birth of their baby. If your business includes factory work, they are entitled to four weeks in total. You should note that your staff retain their employees&#8217; rights during their maternity leave.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When your employees start their maternity leave, their entitlement to Statutory Maternity Pay also commences. Not all your workers will qualify for this but will do where they:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">earn a minimum average of \u00a3120 per week;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">give you a minimum of 28 days&#8217; notice of their maternity leave;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">prove to you that they are pregnant; and\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">have been working for you for a minimum of 26 weeks continuously before and including the 15th week before their baby is expected to be born.<br \/><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Finally, you must ensure that your employees returning from maternity leave resume a similar position as the one you left. This means you cannot demote them or offer them a lower-paying position than the one they left.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Separately, fathers and certain same-sex partners to surrogate mothers have similar rights to take parental leave \u2014 typically up to two consecutive weeks during the calendar year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Key Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You must be aware of and understand employment law as it details your obligations as an employer. For example, you must not unlawfully discriminate against others in your employment. You must also pay your staff the National Minimum Wage and ensure they have the legal rest breaks they are entitled to. If you do not abide by your obligations under employment law, your business may face serious repercussions. In the worst case, you may have to defend a claim in front of an employment tribunal. If you lose, you will likely have to pay a civil penalty.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you need help understanding key points about employment laws in the UK, our<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/employment-lawyers-lp\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">experienced employment lawyers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. So call us today on <a href=\"tel:+448081968584\" class=\"AVANSERnumber dynamic-number\">0808 196 8584<\/a> or visit our<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/membership\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">membership page<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"schema-faq wp-block-yoast-faq-block\"><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1665500598369\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"><strong>Why is it essential for an employer to know about employment law?<\/strong><\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">As an employer, the law places certain obligations on you that govern how you must treat your employees. If you do not abide by these rules, your employees can bring your business to an employment tribunal. In the worst case, you may have to pay a substantial civil penalty, depending on the severity of the breach.<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1665500626500\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"><strong>What are some critical employment law points an employer should know?<\/strong><\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Three examples include:<br \/>(1) you must ensure that your business protects the health and safety of your employees;\u00a0<br \/>(2) you cannot unlawfully discriminate against employees; and<br \/>(3) you are required to grant your pregnant employees maternity leave and pay.<\/p> <\/div> <\/div>\n<div class=\"not-prose m-feedback-prompt\">\n    <!-- Thumbs up\/down bar -->\n    <div class=\"m-feedback-prompt__main\">\n        <div class=\"m-feedback-prompt__title\">Was this article helpful?<\/div>\n        <div>\n            <!--span class=\"m-feedback-prompt__button--text\">Thanks!<\/span-->\n            <button type=\"button\" class=\"m-feedback-prompt__button m-feedback-prompt__button--yes\"\n                    data-analytics-link=\"feedback-prompt:yes\" aria-label=\"Agree\">\n                <i class=\"fa-regular fa-thumbs-up fa-3x\"><\/i>\n            <\/button>\n            <button type=\"button\" class=\"m-feedback-prompt__button m-feedback-prompt__button--no\"\n                    data-analytics-link=\"feedback-prompt:no\" aria-label=\"Disagree\">\n                <i class=\"fa-regular fa-thumbs-down fa-3x\"><\/i>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <!-- Feedback form -->\n    <div class=\"m-feedback-prompt__form\">\n        <div class=\"m-feedback-prompt__form--thanks \">\n            <div>Thanks!<\/div>\n            <p>\n                We appreciate your feedback \u2013 your submission has been successfully received.            <\/p>\n        <\/div>\n        <form id=\"contact-form\" class=\"m-feedback-prompt__form--form\" action=\"\" method=\"post\">\n            <input type=\"hidden\" id=\"authenticity_token\" name=\"authenticity_token\" value=\"9eb4f72322\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wp_http_referer\" value=\"\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176763\" \/>            <input value=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/employment\/here-are-five-of-the-most-important-aspects-of-employment-law\/\" type=\"hidden\" name=\"currenturl\"\n                   id=\"currenturl\">\n            <input value=\"I am an Employer in the UK. What Are Five Key Things I Should Know About Employment Law?\" type=\"hidden\" name=\"currenttitle\"\n                   id=\"currenttitle\">\n            <label>\n                <!-- display on thumbs-up -->\n                <span class=\"m-feedback-prompt__feedback m-feedback-prompt__feedback--yes\">\n                    Can you tell us <span class=\"font-semibold\">why<\/span> you found it helpful?\n                <\/span>\n\n                <!-- display on thumbs-down -->\n                <span class=\"m-feedback-prompt__feedback m-feedback-prompt__feedback--no text-lg\">\n                    How can we better improve this article?\n                <\/span>\n                <textarea name=\"feedbackmessage\" id=\"feedbackmessage\" required><\/textarea>\n            <\/label>\n\n            <div class=\"m-feedback-prompt__form--error\" id=\"form-submit-error\"><\/div>\n            <button id=\"submit-contact-form-button\" type=\"submit\" name=\"commit\" class=\"m-feedback-prompt__form--submit\"\n                    data-analytics-link=\"feedback-prompt:submit\">\n                Submit            <\/button>\n        <\/form>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Employment law can be a minefield for many employers because it covers a vast area and frequently changes. However, as an employer, you will want to abide by your legal obligations. Failure to do so can open your business up to employment tribunal claims, which may result in severe financial penalties. This article will explain<a href=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/employment\/here-are-five-of-the-most-important-aspects-of-employment-law\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"sr-only\">&#8220;I am an Employer in the UK. What Are Five Key Things I Should Know About Employment Law?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13326,"featured_media":3173,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"175046,171929,171811,2921,2680,174081","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[20,220,1044,1045],"class_list":["post-176763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employment","tag-small-business","tag-health-and-safety","tag-hours-of-work","tag-unlawful-discrimination"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>5 Things You Must Know About Employment Law | LegalVision UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Employment law is difficult for employers to keep up with. 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What Are Five Key Things I Should Know About Employment Law?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"LegalVision UK\",\"description\":\"LegalVision is a commercial law firm in the UK with a commitment to innovation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/46fdb392af527f38f90649480343e732\",\"name\":\"Clare Farmer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/img.legalvision.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/03\/12052028\/LegalVision_square_logo-150x150.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/img.legalvision.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/03\/12052028\/LegalVision_square_logo-150x150.png\",\"caption\":\"Clare Farmer\"},\"description\":\"Clare has a postgraduate diploma in law and writes on a range of subjects and in a variety of genres. 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