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As an employer, you may find it difficult to grasp certain parts of employment law since it is prone to change. However, you must be aware of the rules in employment law to ensure you fulfil your legal responsibilities. If you fail to fulfil your legal obligations correctly, your employee may make a claim against you in an employment tribunal. This can result in you paying compensation and damaging your business’ reputation. Hence, this article will explain five crucial parts of employment law you, as an employer, need to know in England.
1. The National Minimum Wage
The National Minimum Wage is the minimum amount you must pay your workers per hour. Since the National Minimum Wage changes annually to stay in line with inflation, you must change your staff’s wages as required.
As of October 2022, the rates for the National Minimum Wage are:
- £9.50 for those aged 23 or over;
- £9.18 for those aged 21-22;
- £6.83 for those aged 18-20;
- £4.81 for those aged under 18; and
- £4.81 for apprentices.
You should know that specific payments do not count towards the National Minimum Wage. These payments include:
- tips;
- service charges;
- cover charges; and
- gratuities.
2. Discrimination Law
It is illegal to discriminate against an employee based on nine protected characteristics during employment. Discrimination is illegal from when you recruit staff until the moment you dismiss staff. Therefore, you cannot make any employment decisions based on a protected characteristic unless the decision positively accommodates the employee in your workplace.
Illegal discrimination also includes discriminating against another person because:
- they are associated with someone with a protected characteristic;
- you think they have that protected characteristic; or
- they have supported someone or are linked to someone who has made a complaint against discrimination.
Ultimately, you can face a claim at an employment tribunal if you illegally discriminate against an employee.
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3. Unfair Dismissal
If you need to dismiss your staff, you must do so fairly. Otherwise, you could face a claim for unfair dismissal. Unfair dismissal is an area of employment law that every employer should be aware of. To avoid unfairly dismissing your staff, you must ensure that you:
- have a fair reason to dismiss the employee, such as misconduct or performance reasons; and
- follow a fair procedure which differs depending on the reason for dismissal.
Your employees can claim unfair dismissal if they are employed with at least two years of continuous service. If you dismiss your staff unfairly, all staff may be able to make other claims regardless of their time employed with you.
4. Maternity Rights
When your staff become pregnant and have a baby, they are entitled to extra employment rights. Many maternity entitlements relate to an employee’s right to take time away from the workplace.
Maternity rights include, for example:
- paid time off for antenatal appointments;
- 26 weeks away from work as ordinary maternity leave; and
- 26 further weeks off work as additional maternity leave.
5. Written Statement of Employment Particulars
When you employ staff, you usually have an employment contract with them. However, there is no legal requirement to confirm this working relationship in writing. Nevertheless, there is a legal requirement to ensure that you give your staff a written statement of employment particulars if you plan to employ them for at least one month.
The written statement of particulars will detail some of the main terms and conditions of your employee’s employment, such as:
- their job title;
- your details;
- the hours you expect them to work;
- where they should work;
- pay details; and
- holiday entitlement.
Key Takeaways
As an employer, keeping up to date with employment law can be difficult since it is prone to change. Nevertheless, you should:
- ensure you pay your staff in line with the National Minimum Wage;
- avoid unlawfully discriminating against employees;
- dismiss your staff in a fair and reasonable manner;
- be aware of your employee’s maternity rights; and
- provide a written statement of particulars if you plan to employ someone for at least one month.
If you need help understanding employment law in England, our experienced employment lawyers 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 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
As an employer, you must know about employment law to ensure that you carry out your legal obligations towards your employees. Otherwise, you could face an employment tribunal claim if you do not provide your employees with their appropriate entitlements.
As an employer, you should know that the National Minimum Wage changes annually. Hence, your staff’s pay rate is also likely to change.
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