Employment law is a large and complex field, but you should have an idea of the basics and be aware of your rights and responsibilities. 

Your status

There are three different groups of working people here in the UK. When you take a job you will automatically belong to one of these groups, meaning that your rights under UK law will be slightly different, depending on which one you become.

The three different groups, or categories, are: ‘employees’, ‘workers’ and ‘self-employed’. Generally speaking, there is not that much difference between an ‘employee’ and a ‘worker’, however you should be aware that some of the rules, known as ‘legislation’, will give employees a bit more job security. Let’s look at each group individually.

Employee 

Most people in the UK are employees. You are an employee if you have a contract of employment between yourself and your employer. Often a contract won't be in writing, because it can exist when you and your employer agree on the terms and conditions of your employment, although it is strongly recommended that you get a contract signed before you start work to avoid any misunderstandings later.

Increasingly, under UK law, an employer is required to provide you with a written contract of employment. The reality is that it is not unusual to not have a written contract.

Your rights

As an employee you will have certain rights, known as ‘statutory employment rights’. The main ones are as follows:

•    Maternity or Paternity leave (this means that you will be allowed time off if you have a child)
•    Statutory redundancy pay (legal right to a set amount of money if you are made redundant)
•    The right not to be unfairly dismissed
•    To paid at least the National Minimum wage (£5.93 per hour if you are over the age of 21 - from October 2010 - the rates do change from time to time)

• •    To have some time off from work, i.e. annual leave or holiday 

Fair treatment 

As a general rule, you can expect to be treated fairly by your employer, you should have a safe and suitable working environment and you have the right to expect that your employer makes it clear to you what is expected of you.

It is also an employer’s duty to inform you what behaviour (conduct) is expected of you and how well you should do your job (performance). You should also be told what will happen if your conduct or performance are not good enough. If your employer doesn’t tell you these things when you start working for them, you could ask if they have a staff handbook. This should contain information about your hours of work, how you should work, how you are expected to behave at work, what happens if things go wrong, how many holiday days you have and what the procedure is for booking them, amongst other things.

Workers

Worker is a broad category that normally refers to most agency workers, short-term or casual workers and freelancers. As workers you should have a contract of employment, however you will not be eligible for certain benefits, such as maternity leave.

Basically, if you stop work to have a baby, the employer will be under no legal obligation to keep your job open for you, although you will be entitled to a maternity/paternity payment.

Workers’ rights also protect them from discrimination and ensure that they have rights to rest breaks, paid holiday and limits on night work under legislation called the ‘Working Time Regulations Act’. You will also be entitled to statutory sick pay.

Self-employed

This is the opposite end of the scale to being an employee. When you are self-employed you are basically your own boss. You decide how much you charge your customers and how much holiday you take, for example.  However, you still have the right to a safe working environment, if for example you are working in someone’s house. You also have the right to take legal action if you are being discriminated against.

There are many more rules that apply to the three main groups that we have looked at. Employment law is complicated, but this gives you a basic idea of your rights.

For a complete list of British employment laws and regulations, see direct.gov.uk

You may also find our article on work permits useful.

USEFUL WORDS

employer = a person or company that pays people to work for them
employee = a person who is paid to work for somebody
self-employed = working for yourself and not employed by a company
casual worker = someone who does not work permanently or regularly for a company
freelancer = a person who earns money by selling their work or services to several different organisations rather than being employed by just one company
(written) employment contract = an official agreement outlining the details of your job
sign a contract
statutory employment rights = rights you are entitled to by law
legal obligation = something which must be done by law
maternity/paternity leave/pay = time off/payment which new mothers/fathers receive when a baby is born
redundancy pay = money paid to you when you have to leave your job because there is no more work for you
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) = pay given to an employee by the state when s/he is away from work for longer than 4 days because of illness
to be dismissed = to officially remove someone from their job
discriminate against = to treat someone better or worse than another in an unfair way
National Minimum Wage = the minimum amount of hourly pay an employer can legally pay an employee
annual leave = holidays/time off from work for which you are paid
behaviour / conduct = the way a person acts, especially towards other people
performance = how well someone carries out a job / task
staff handbook = a book which details information about a job and the working environment

ENGLISH GRAMMAR

Gone or Been?

Sue has gone to town, but she’ll be back soon
Sue has been to town.  She got back half an hour ago

gone = ‘gone and still away’
been = ‘gone and come back’

An –ing form can be used after gone or been:
They’ve gone swimming.  They’re at the pool
They’ve been swimming.  They’ve just got back

In questions about places people have visited, use been:
Have you (ever) been to Canada?