EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION

INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES: A GUIDE FOR EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES - PL 716 (REV 11)

Other time off

Time off for dependants

All employees are entitled to reasonable time off work without pay to deal with an emergency involving a dependant; for example, if a dependant falls ill or is injured, if care arrangements break down, or to arrange or attend a dependant's funeral.

Further details on circumstances when leave can be taken and the definition of a dependant can be found in the documents Time off for dependants: a guide for employers and employees (URN 99/1186) (96Kb) and Family emergency? your right to time off (PL506).

Time off work for public duties

Under certain circumstances employers must give employees who hold certain public positions reasonable time off to perform the duties associated with them.

This provision covers such offices, among others, as justice of the peace, prison visitor, and member of a local authority, a police authority, a statutory tribunal, and certain health and education authorities. Employers do not have to pay employees for the time off taken for public duties.

Further details can be found in the document Time off for public duties (PL702).

Time off work for trade union duties and activities

An employee who is an official of an independent trade union which is recognised by the employer must be allowed reasonable time off with pay during working hours to:

• carry out those duties as an official which relate to matters for which the employer has recognised the union, or any other functions which the employer has agreed the union may perform;
• consult with the employer, or receive information from the employer, about mass redundancies or business transfers; or
• undergo training relevant to those duties and which is approved by the union or by the Trades Union Congress.

An employee who is a member of an independent trade union which is recognised by the employer is entitled to reasonable time off for certain trade union activities. The employer is not obliged to pay the employee for time off for these activities.

The Acas code of practice Time off for trade union duties and activities provides guidance on the time off to be permitted by an employer.

Time off for safety representatives

Employees who are:

• safety representatives appointed under the Safety Representatives and Safety Committee Regulations 1977 by a trade union recognised by their employer; or
• representatives of employee safety elected under the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996, to represent employees not covered by the 1977 Regulations; or
• safety representatives elected under the Offshore Installations (Safety Representatives and Safety Committee) Regulations 1989

Further details can be found in the following booklets available from HSE Books (tel: 01787 881165) and other booksellers: Safety representatives and safety committees (contains the 1977 Regulations and a supporting code of practice and guidance), A guide to the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 and A guide to the Offshore Installations (Safety Representatives and Safety Committees) Regulations 1989.

Time off for occupational pension scheme trustees and directors of trustee companies

Employees who are trustees of an occupational pension scheme (as defined in section 1 of the Pension Schemes Act 1993) or directors of trustee companies are entitled to reasonable time off with pay to carry out any of their trustee's duties or to receive training relevant to those duties.

Time off for employee representatives

Employees who act as representatives for consultation about redundancies or business transfers, or are candidates to be representatives of this kind, are entitled to reasonable time off with pay during working hours to perform these functions and to receive appropriate training. Further details can be found in the documents Redundancy consultation and notification (PL833) and Transfers of undertakings: a guide to the regulations (PL699).

Time off for activities relating to the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999

The Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999 implement the European Works Council Directive in the UK. They set out requirements for informing and consulting employees in undertakings or groups with at least 1000 employees in European Union countries and at least 150 employees in each of two or more of the EU's member states. These regulations allow employees reasonable time off with pay to perform their functions as a member of a special negotiating body or a European Works Council, as an information and consultation representative or as a candidate in an election to be such a member or representative. 

Time off for activities relating to the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations

The above Regulations implement the EU Directive establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees. The Regulations will come into force on 6 April 2005. They set out requirements for informing and consulting employees in undertakings with at least 50 employees. Initially the Regulations will apply to undertakings with 150 employees and then to undertakings with 100 employees (April 2007) and eventually to undertakings with 50 employees (April 2008). Employees are entitled to reasonable time off with pay to perform their functions as negotiating representatives or information and consultation representatives.

Time off for activities relating to the European Public-Limited Liability Company Regulations 2004 

The above regulations implement in Great Britain the Directive on employee involvement (2001/86/EC), which supplements the European Company Statute.  The Regulations came into force on 8th October 2004.  The Statute (the combined EU regulation and directive) creates a legal framework for a new corporate entity, the European Company or "Societas Europea" (SE), available to companies operating in more than one Member State. The supplementary Directive provides for employee involvement: information, consultation and possibly participation arrangements in the SE.  In the first instance the employee involvement arrangements are to be negotiated between the management and the employees, acting through a Special Negotiating Body (SNB).  If a voluntary agreement is not reached, then certain "standard" rules will apply, provided management wants to carry on with registration of an SE.   Employees are entitled to reasonable time off with pay to perform their functions as negotiating representatives, information and consultation representatives and other representative roles provided for in the regulations.

Time off for study or training

Employees aged 16 or 17 who have not achieved a certain standard in their education or training have the right to reasonable time off with pay to study or train for a relevant qualification which will help them towards that standard. Certain employees aged 18 have the right to complete study or training already begun. The study or training can be in the workplace, at college, with another employer or a training provider, or elsewhere.

There is no qualifying period of employment for the employee.

Details can be found in the Department for Education and Skills booklet Time Off for Study or Training (TfST EL1), available from Jobcentre Plus offices or see the DFES website.

Time off for job hunting or to arrange training when facing redundancy

An employee who is being made redundant, and who has been continuously employed by the same employer for at least two years, is entitled, whilst under notice, to take reasonable time off with pay within working hours to look for another job, or to make arrangements for training for future employment.

Further details can be found in the document Redundancy entitlement - statutory rights: a guide for employees (PL808).

Anti-discrimination 

Sex and race

Under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (as amended), generally employers should not discriminate on grounds of sex, marriage or because someone intends to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone gender reassignment. The Race Relations Act 1976 generally makes discrimination by employers on racial grounds unlawful - that is, discrimination on grounds of race, colour, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins.

'Discrimination' means treating someone less favourably on any of these grounds. It includes applying apparently neutral provisions, criteria or practices, unless they can be objectively justified which, though applied equally to all, have a disproportionately detrimental effect on particular racial groups or on one sex or on married people (as the case may be) and which cannot be shown to be justifiable (for instance to be job-related). Discrimination also includes victimising someone who has made a complaint under these Acts or under the Equal Pay Act 1970 (see Equal Pay below). These three Acts cover discrimination by employers in recruitment, in all aspects of their treatment of existing employees (including pay, training and access to promotion) and when terminating employment.

There are limited exceptions; for instance, where a job has to be done by a person of a particular sex or from a particular racial group for reasons such as authenticity in dramatic performances. The Race Relations Act does not apply, except for victimisation, to people employed to work in a private household. Both Acts permit employers, under certain conditions, to train employees of one sex or of a particular racial group in order to fit them for particular work in which their sex or racial group has recently been under-represented; they may also encourage the under-represented sex or racial group to take up opportunities to do that work.

Individuals' complaints under the employment provisions of these Acts go to employment tribunals. The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) and the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) both have statutory responsibilities in the employment field: they can conduct formal investigations and have issued codes of practice to help eliminate discrimination and promote equality of opportunity.

The CRE Employment code of practice gives practical guidance for employers and others on implementing policies to secure good race relations in employment. It does not extend the law but it may be used in evidence in Race Relations Act cases heard by an employment tribunal, and if the tribunal considers the Code could be relevant to a question arising in the proceedings, it must take it into account. Copies are available from the CRE, Elliott House, 10-12 Allington Street, London SW1E 5EH (Tel: 020 7828 7022).

The EOC has also produced a code of practice, which can be obtained from their website or by contacting the EOC, Arndale House, Arndale Centre, Manchester M4 3EQ (Tel: 0845 601 5901).

Further information about these Acts can be found in the guides Sex discrimination and Racial discrimination, available from Jobcentre Plus offices or from the EOC and CRE respectively. A guide to the Sex Discrimination (gender reassignment) Regulations 1999 (PL99 GR) can be obtained by calling 0845 602 2260. It is also available from the DTI Women and Equality unit.

Equal pay

Employers must give men and women equal treatment in terms and conditions if they are employed on 'like work', work rated as equivalent under a job evaluation study, or work found to be of equal value. Equal pay is, therefore, not restricted to remuneration alone, but includes most terms in an employment contract. Terms covering special treatment because of pregnancy or childbirth, or reflecting statutory restrictions on the employment of women are not covered.

Individuals may complain to an employment tribunal under the Equal Pay Act 1970 up to six months after leaving the employment to which their claim relates. They may claim arrears of remuneration or damages.

A woman is employed on 'like work' with a man if her work is of the same or a broadly similar nature, and any difference between the things they do is not of practical importance in relation to their terms and conditions of employment. It is for the employer to show that any difference is of practical importance.

If it is established that the work is like work, or is rated as equivalent, an employer may still show that any differences between the man's and woman's contracts are genuinely due to a 'material difference' (other than the difference of sex) - qualifications for example. If a claim is made under the equal value provisions, the employer can also justify a difference in pay by showing material factors not attributable to personal qualities - an example could be the need to pay a computer programmer more than a clerical supervisor because a good programmer could not be obtained for less.

Further details can be found in the leaflet Are you getting equal pay?, available from the EOC website or by calling 0845 601 5901; and the Equal Opportunities Commission has produced a free code of practice on equal pay, available from its Manchester office (see Sex and race for address).

Disability

Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 employers with 15 or more employees must not discriminate against current and prospective employees who have, or have had, a disability. Discrimination occurs when, for a reason related to the person's disability, an employer treats someone less favourably than he or she would treat other people, and cannot justify this treatment. It cannot be justified if, by making a 'reasonable adjustment' (see below), the employer could remove the reason for the treatment. Discrimination also occurs when an employer fails to make a 'reasonable adjustment'  for a disabled person, and cannot justify the failure.

From 1 October 2004, the employment provisions of the DDA will apply to employers of all sizes. Changes are also being made to the definition of discrimination, and discrimination on the grounds of someone's disability will no longer be justifiable. Failure to make a reasonable adjustment, and discrimination for a reason related to a disability (rather than on the grounds of the disability itself) will still be justifiable. Harassment because of disability is specified as being unlawful.

A reasonable adjustment is any step or steps an employer could reasonably take to prevent arrangements made by him/her or physical features of premises occupied by him/her from putting a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage in comparison with a non-disabled person. The duty to make reasonable adjustments applies to any aspect of employment, including the recruitment process, access to training, promotion, access to work benefits or facilities, and selection for redundancy. From October 2004, the Disability Rights Commission will be empowered to take legal action in respect of discriminatory job advertisements.

People who have, or have had, disabilities and believe that is why they have been discriminated against in employment matters may make a complaint to an employment tribunal.

Free material on the Act's provisions can be obtained from the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) - Helpline on 08457 622 633, call 08457 622 644 for the textphone service for people with hearing impairments or email enquiry@drc-gb.org. Calls are charged at local British Telecom rates. information can also be obtained through the DRC website or the government website. Helpful booklets include: The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 - What Employers Need to Know (DL170); and What employees and job applicants need to know (DLE3).

More detailed information and examples are available in The Code of Practice for the elimination of discrimination in the field of employment against disabled persons or persons who have had a disability.  Detailed information on the definition of disability is available in Guidance on matters to be taken into account in determining questions relating to the definition of disability. These are priced publications available from The Stationery Office bookshops (or telephone 0870 600 5522).

Sexual orientation and religion or belief

The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 and the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 make it unlawful to discriminate against someone or harass someone on grounds of sexual orientation or religion or belief in employment and vocational training. The Regulations apply in all workplaces large or small throughout Great Britain, both in the private and public sectors. The cover all aspects of the employment relationship, including recruitment, pay, working conditions, training, promotion, dismissals and references.

'Discrimination' means treating someone less favourably than others because of their sexual orientation or their religion or belief. It includes applying provisions, criteria or practices, which disadvantage people because of a particular sexual orientation or religion or belief unless they can be objectively justified. Discrimination also includes victimising someone who has made a complaint under these regulations - for example, if someone made formal complaint of discrimination or given evidence in a tribunal case. 'Harassment' means unwanted conduct that violates people's dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

The legislation covers perception of sexual orientation or perception of religion or belief. So it protects people who are assumed - correctly or incorrectly - to be of a particular sexual orientation or to have a particular religion or belief. The legislation also protects people who are discriminated against because of the sexual orientation or the religion or belief of the people with whom they associate, for example, their family and friends.

Similarly to to sex and race legislation, there are certain exceptions where a job has to be done by a person of a particular sexual orientation or religion or belief, but these apply in a very limited set of circumstances. In most cases, a complaint must be made to the employment tribunal, though in cases involving institutes of further and higher education proceedings must be brought in the county or sheriff court.

Further information about these Regulations can be found on the DTI website. Acas, the independent employment relations service, provides information and good practice advice to employers and employees on a wide range of employment relations issues through its website, helpline (08457 47 47 47), publications and training. Acas has Equality and Diversity Advisers who specialise in providing practical help to businesses of all sizes and sectors on equality and diversity issues in the workplace. Acas also runs Equality Direct, a helpline for questions on managing equality in the workplace (08456 00 34 44).

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Last updated 23 June 2005