Question 1

Changing Contracts of Employment

Accepted Answer

In the current economic climate employers may decide that reducing employees’ pay or changing their roles may be a preferable course of action to making redundancies. People are often surprised to learn that in some circumstances it is possible for employers to give staff the choice between agreeing to a change in their contract or losing their jobs.
On the other hand a change imposed upon you without your consent could entitle you to claim unfair dismissal so legal advice may be required.
A Tribunal is likely to consider changes that were necessary for the survival of a business as justifiable and therefore fair but will be wary of those which are simply intended to increase profitability at the expense of the employee.
The above information is not intended to be a complete or definitive statement of the law. For more information or advice please contact our Employment Law team.

Question 2

Constructive Dismissal

Accepted Answer

What is Constructive Dismissal?
Constructive Dismissal occurs when an employee terminates their employment, as a result of their employer’s conduct towards them. Although the employee has resigned the effects are the same as if they were dismissed and they may therefore be able to bring a claim.
 
There are also certain issues which must be considered before making a claim. For example:

The employer may be in able to prove that their action was justified or reasonable. For example, the employee may have breached the terms of their contract of employment.
The employee may have to indicate why the usual grievance procedures were not followed.
To pursue a claim for Constructive Dismissal an employee must usually leave their employment within a reasonable time of the actions complained of, or the contract could be construed as having been affirmed.
The employer’s breach must be of more than a minor nature.
The employee must also be able to meet the qualifying criteria for unfair dismissal unless a statutory exception applies. The employee should ideally seek advice.

Examples of action which may give rise to a claim for Constructive Dismissal
• A reduction of pay without the employee’s consent
• Change to hours of work without authority to do so
• Demotion for no justifiable reason
• Other fundamental changes to the nature of the employee’s job
• Bullying, harassment or violence by the employer or work colleagues
• Making the employee work in dangerous conditions
The employer’s actions may be a serious incident or the last in a series of incidents that are serious when taken together.
Resigning is a decision which should never be taken lightly as it may be very difficult to prove that the employer’s behaviour was so bad that you had no choice but to leave. Legal advice should always be obtained before acting.
The above information is not intended to be a complete or definitive statement of the law. For more information or advice please contact our Employment Law team.

Question 3

Discrimination

Accepted Answer

Discrimination law is different
Discrimination claims can be based upon sex, marital or civil partnership status, racial grounds, disability, gender reassignment, religion or belief, sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity leave or age.
The following notes are a brief summary of some important differences between discrimination and other areas of employment law.
No upper limit
If there is a finding of discrimination there is no statutory maximum on the amount that can be awarded.
Qualifying period
An employee does not need to have served a qualifying period of service in order to lodge a discrimination claim. In fact even job applicants can bring a claim.
Injury to feelings
There can be an additional award in discrimination cases for injury to feelings.
Not just dismissal
Discrimination claims can be brought where no dismissal has taken place. So a claim can be brought by an employee while still working within a business.
Three month time limit
The Tribunal has the power to extend the usual 3 month time limit if it decides that it would be &#8220;just and equitable? for them to do so.
Harassment
Claims can be brought for harassment based on discrimination and the procedures are different to those relating to non-discriminatory harassment cases.
Burden of proof
In discrimination claims the burden of proof can shift from the employee to the employer once the employee is able to provide some evidence of discrimination.
The above information is not intended to be a complete or definitive statement of the law. For more information or advice please contact our Employment Law team.

Question 4

Employment Rate Changes Effective from April 2024

Accepted Answer

As usually happens each April, the statutory rates which apply to employees increased in April 2024, as follows:-
National Minimum Wage
(these increases applied as from 1st April 2024)
&#8211; National Living Wage (21 and over): £11.44
&#8211; Age 18–20 (inclusive): £8.60
&#8211; Under 18s: £6.40
&#8211; Apprentices: £6.40
&#8211; Accommodation offset: £9.99
Statutory Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Pay
(increases applied as from April 2024)
The rate is £184.03 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. To be eligible for paternity pay employees must be earning an average of £123 per week (at least) before tax.
Note &#8211; this is the rate which applies to shared parental leave pay and after the initial 6 weeks of maternity or adoption leave. For the first 6 weeks of maternity or adoption leave the employee is entitled to 90% of their average weekly earnings and pay during that period is not subject to any cap.
National Insurance Rates
&#8211; All National Insurance rates increased by 1.25% on 6th April 2022 for a period of one year.
&#8211; National Insurance rates reduced back down to 2021-2022 rates on 6th April 2023 but a new Health and Social Care Levy tax of 1.25% will then be introduced.
Redundancy pay and unfair dismissal compensation:
The statutory weekly pay figure for redundancy payments and basic awards in unfair dismissal claims increased from £643 to £700 as from 6th April 2024. The maximum redundancy payment therefore increased to £19,290.
The cap on compensatory awards in unfair dismissal claims increased to £115,115 (from £105,707)
Statutory Sick Pay
The amount of statutory sick pay the employee should receive will depend on their usual working hours, and the period of absence, but the maximum rate payable per week is £116.75 (increased from £109.40 per week in April 2024).
The lower earnings limit (LEL) for eligibility purposes has increased from £120.00 to £123.00 per week.
Employers should take note of these increased rates and ensure that they apply them to any calculations of the relevant pay, after the effective dates.
For further information in relation to these rates, or any employment law related issues, please contact Rachel Fereday on 01380 722311 or rachel.fereday@awdry.law

Question 5

Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures

Accepted Answer

Employers and employees alike should ensure they have acted fairly in accordance with the ACAS Revised Code of Practice before bringing any formal action against one another or risk being financially penalized by the Employment Tribunal.
Workplaces should have a fair and transparent procedure for bringing grievances or initiating disciplinary action. The ACAS Code sets out standards of good practice that employers should consider incorporating into their own workplace procedures. Similarly, employees should abide by these procedures if they are fair. Examples of good practice include:
Disciplinary Action
• Deal with disciplinary action promptly but allow the employee time to prepare their case.
• Utilise counselling and feedback techniques for minor cases of misconduct and poor performance which can be escalated to more formal action if the employee continues to behave badly and/or under-perform.
• Investigate allegations of misconduct thoroughly and if practicable by a neutral third party.
• Allow the employee a right of appeal, to a senior member of staff if appropriate.
Employee Grievances
• Grievances should be dealt with by a person who is not the subject of the grievance.
• Employees should raise grievances formally, by letter if need be, if matters cannot be first resolved informally.
• A private meeting should be convened to hear formal grievances where an employee can be accompanied by a friend or advisor.
• An investigation process should be carried out, where appropriate.
• The employer and employee should try to decide a course of action to rectify the problem. If the employee is still unhappy they should be permitted a right of appeal.
If the Employer or Employee fail to follow any procedures which the Code of Practice recommends then the Employment Tribunal can take this into consideration and make an adjustment to any award that it makes of +/- 25%, depending on the party at fault.
We therefore recommend that, where possible, employees file a grievance before bringing a Tribunal claim and employers ensure that they follow the ACAS Code recommendations in relation to any disciplinary action they take against an employee. Employers also must ensure that they comply with their own policies.
The above information is not intended to be a complete or definitive statement of the law. For more information or advice please contact our Employment Law team.

Question 6

Maternity Rights

Accepted Answer

Maternity Leave

Women are entitled to Maternity Leave of a total of 52 weeks, comprised of 26 weeks Ordinary Maternity Leave and 26 weeks Additional Maternity Leave. This right is applicable from the first day of working.
It is unlawful for a person to work within 2 weeks of the birth of a child (4 weeks if working in a factory). An employer may be criminally liable if work is undertaken during this period.
An employee must give notice to her employer that she intends to take maternity leave and this notice must not be given any later than the end of the 15th week before the week that the child is due.
There is no need to give notice of return as it is assumed that the employee will return to work.
Maternity Leave can start at any time from 11 weeks before the week of the birth due date.

Maternity Pay

To qualify for maternity, pay the employee needs to have worked for 26 weeks before reaching the 14th week before the birth due date. There is also a minimum earnings level.
If a person is entitled, Statutory Maternity Pay covers 39 weeks in total. The first 6 weeks of Maternity Pay are at 90% of normal pay and after that there is a statutory minimum payment of £156.66 a week (increasing to £172.48 on 2nd April 2023).
Employers are reimbursed to the tune of either 92% or 100% of the Statutory Maternity Payments made.
If a woman does not qualify for Statutory Maternity pay, she may be entitled to claim maternity allowance from the Benefits Agency.

Ante-natal care

Women are entitled to time off to attend ante-natal appointments. An employee may need to produce a certificate confirming pregnancy.

Returning to work
After childbirth a woman has a right to return to the same job on the same terms and conditions. Many women would prefer to return to work on a part-time basis. There is no legal right to do so. However, there is a right to request flexible working, which may include a request to change hours and/or work part-time and employers need to be aware that if they reject a request for part-time work this could be interpreted as indirect sex discrimination and could therefore give rise to a claim.
The right to not be discriminated against
In addition to the rights mentioned above there is a general right not to be treated less favourable because you are pregnant or on maternity leave. Any unfairness at work relating to pregnancy or childbirth is likely to be viewed as sex discrimination.
Priority for suitable alternatives in redundancy
A woman on maternity leave also has the right, in a redundancy situation, to be given priority for any suitable alternative roles which may exist and should not, for example, need to go through a competitive interview process for any new or vacant suitable alternative roles.
The above information is not intended to be a complete or definitive statement of the law. For more information or advice please contact our Employment team.

Question 7

Parental Leave

Accepted Answer

The right to Parental Leave is in addition to any rights for Paternity Leave (see our separate Legal Overview on paternity Leave) or Shared parental Leave.
Parents of a child under 18 who have worked for the same employer for 12 months are entitled to take off 18 weeks in total for each child up to their 18th birthday. Parents who adopt will have up to 18 years after the adoption is finalised to undertake this leave.
Parental Leave is usually unpaid.
Each parent has a right to Parental Leave although if they are separated and their ex-partner looks after the child they only have a right if they have parental responsibility for the child.
Leave must be in blocks of full weeks and the employee cannot take more than 4 weeks leave for any one child in any year.
The above information is not intended to be a complete or definitive statement of the law. For more information or advice please contact our Employment Law team.

Question 8

Paternity Leave

Accepted Answer

The right to Paternity Leave is in addition to any rights for Parental Leave – see our separate Legal Overview. Paternity Leave is intended to facilitate time to help care for the child and/or to support the mother following childbirth.
When do employees qualify for statutory paternity leave and pay?
To qualify an employee must:

Have been in continuous employment with the same employer for 26 weeks ending with the 15th week before the baby is due.
Be the biological father of the child or be the mother/adopter’s partner and expect to have responsibility for the child.

How does an employee notify their employer and what information is required?
In order to take Paternity Leave employees are required to notify their employers of the due date at least 15 weeks before the expected week of childbirth.
The employee must then give at least 28 days notice of the dates on which they wish to take the leave.
How long is paternity leave and when does it have to be taken?
The maximum period of paternity leave is two weeks. This can be taken in a block of two weeks, or one or two separate weeks. It must be taken within 12 months of the date of the child’s birth.
The parent may also be entitled to take a period of shared parental leave.
Statutory Paternity Pay
The rate is £184.03 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. To be eligible for paternity pay employees must be earning an average of £123 per week (at least) before tax.
In order to receive statutory paternity pay the employee is required to provide a completed self certificate which confirms that he is the father of the child and/ or the husband, civil partner or partner of the mother and:

Is taking leave either to care for the child and/or to support the mother, and
has, or expects to have, responsibility for the upbringing of the child.

The employee must give their employer a completed self-certificate to confirm their entitlement and must do so at least 28 days before they want the pay to begin. Fathers and Partners also have the right to Shared Parental Leave.
The above information is not intended to be a complete or definitive statement of the law. For more information or advice please contact our Employment Law team.

Question 9

Redundancy Pay

Accepted Answer

An applicant for a redundancy payment must have been continuously employed for a period of two years. Part time employment counts towards continuity in the same way as full time employment.
Is every employee entitled to a redundancy payment?
Some groups of employees are excluded from a right to a redundancy payment. These include merchant seamen or shore fishermen, crown servants, members of the armed forces or police services, apprentices who are not employees at the end of their training, domestic servants who are members of the employer’s immediate family, employees who unreasonably refuse suitable alternative employment and employees dismissed for misconduct.
What amount of redundancy payment can I expect?
For each complete year of service up to a maximum of 20, employees are entitled to half a week’s pay for each year of service under 22, one week’s pay for each year of service between 22 and 41, and 1.5 weeks wages from the age of 41 and over.
There is a maximum statutory limit for weekly pay which is currently £571. This figure is reviewed annually. It is open to employers to pay more than the statutory maximum.
What happens if my employer is in financial difficulty?
If an employer is unable to make the required payment, the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) can pay the employee direct from the NI fund.
The above information is not intended to be a complete or definitive statement of the law. For more information or advice please contact our Employment Law team.

Question 10

Redundancy Procedures

Accepted Answer

After many years of economic growth and job security redundancy is now a word making headlines again. Redundancies can give rise to claims for unfair dismissal and in order to avoid this, employers need to be aware of certain legal traps.
It is worth remembering that the current maximum compensatory award for an unfair dismissal is £93,878 (for dismissals on or after 6th April 2022) or one year’s gross salary whichever is lower and if discrimination is involved there is no upper limit at all.
If challenged, not only must the employer be able to demonstrate that redundancy was the real reason for a dismissal but equally importantly that the correct procedures were followed.
So here are some key aspects for employers to consider.
Time limits
In most cases an employee cannot claim unfair dismissal unless they have been with the same employer for more than two years Two years continuous employment with the same employer is the relevant time period for an employee to become entitled to receive a statutory redundancy payment.
The reason
A genuine redundancy situation is one where the employer has ceased or intends to cease business, the location of the business is changing or the requirement for employees undertaking a particular kind of work has ceased or diminished. Unless one of these applies there may be an unfair dismissal rather than a true redundancy.
The group
Employers cannot select individuals for redundancy arbitrarily or without considering everyone who undertakes a similar task. This means identifying the group or groups of people that may be affected and the law requires that all those people are considered as part of the redundancy pool.
Selection criteria
The employer must decide the basis upon which the redundancy decisions will be made and that selection criteria should be fair and objective. It is acceptable to base redundancy decisions on the ability of individuals and businesses are entitled to keep their best people but they must be able to justify the selection decisions.
Consultation
All those who are at risk should be given warning of the likelihood of job losses and there must be a genuine consultation process. If there are to be 20 or more redundancies there may be additional specific statutory consultation and notice requirements. The purpose of the consultations is to consider alternatives such as reducing hours, cutting pay, redeploying staff elsewhere or offering voluntary redundancy.
Notification
After the consultation process is completed those employees who have been selected should be invited to a dismissal meeting at which they are entitled to be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative. The dismissals should be confirmed in writing. There is a right of appeal.
Alternative employment
There are rights for employees who are being made redundant to have reasonable time off to look for other employment or arrange training. As part of the redundancy procedure employers must also consider with certain employees whether they could be employed in another role within the business.
Payment
The amount of statutory redundancy pay is calculated on the basis of the number of years service, age and weekly pay. The maximum weekly pay for the calculation is £571 and the length of service is capped at 20 years. The current statutory maximum redundancy payment is £17,130 although employees may have more generous terms in their contracts.
The above information is not intended to be a complete or definitive statement of the law. For more information or advice please contact our Employment Law team.

Question 11

Returning to Work after Maternity Leave

Accepted Answer

In 1971 only 9% of women returned to their jobs within nine months of childbirth. Now the majority of working women do so and this reflects one of the biggest changes which has occurred in working life in this country.
More than ever there is a demand for working patterns to be flexible and to reflect changing attitudes towards full time work.
If you are returning to work after maternity leave you have the right to request reduced hours or part time work but cannot insist upon it. The right to return to the same job is exactly that and does not include a right to require changes in that job.
So can my employers automatically reject my request for part-time work?
Advice to employers is that they should consider whether an employee&#8217;s duties can be carried out on a part time basis, or through a job share, but if the employer believes that accommodating the employee&#8217;s request is simply not possible or practical, the employer can refuse.
Employers should be wary of rejecting such requests unless there is is a good reason because they could face a claim for indirect sex discrimination and there is no ceiling on awards that can be made for successful discrimination claims.
The above information is not intended to be a complete or definitive statement of the law. For more information or advice please contact our Employment Law team.

Question 12

Shared Parental Leave

Accepted Answer

Parents of babies due to be born or placed for adoption on or after 5th April 2015 now potentially have, if they are eligible, a right to Shared Parental Leave which aims to give parents much more flexibility to decide how to split the 52 weeks leave between them.
The Mother must take the first 2 weeks (usually 4 weeks if she works in a factory) as Maternity Leave but parents can now choose how to split the remaining 50 (or 48) weeks, taking it together or alternating.
Each parent has the right to submit up to 3 requests for leave which means that employees could request 3 separate blocks of leave throughout the first year of the baby’s life, returning to work between blocks.
The employee could also ask to take the leave in more than 3 separate blocks but the employer has no obligation to allow a request for leave which is not in one continuous block and the employee only has a right to 3 separate requests.
The limit of 3 requests includes requests for changes and therefore employees who intend to take more than one block of leave, and who have any doubt as to when they will want to take that leave, should consider saving at least one of their 3 requests to change their intended leave dates if necessary or to leave serving the request for that period of leave as late as possible (no less than 8 weeks before).
Shared Parental pay (ShPP) is restricted to the basic rate (£156.66 per week or 90% of salary whichever is lower).
The enhanced 90% of usual salary payment which applies to the first 6 weeks of maternity and adoption leave does not apply to shared parental pay and therefore, it seems likely that most mothers (or main adopters) will at least take the initial first 6 weeks as maternity (adoption) leave.
Each parent on shared parental leave may work up to 20 shared parental leave in touch (SPILT) days but these are, like existing keeping in touch days, optional and require the agreement of both parties.
Parents taking, or seeking to take, Shared Parental Leave, have similar protection to parents on maternity or paternity leave. Employers must not treat employees less favourably due to their request to take Shared Parental Leave and dismissal for reasons connected to taking Shared Parental Leave will usually be automatically unfair.
A parent returning from Shared Parental Leave will have the right to return to the same, or similar job. The question as to whether they have a right to return to exactly the same job, or a suitable and appropriate alternative, will depend on the total number of weeks leave, and the type of leave, the parent has taken.
The rules and notice requirements in relation to Shared Parental Leave are complex. Employers need to understand what they must agree and what they have the right to refuse therefore it is useful to have a comprehensive policy in place for both parties to refer to.
The above information is not intended to be a complete or definitive statement of the law. For further advice on Shared Parental Leave or other employment law matters please contact our Employment Law team.

Question 13

The National Minimum Wage

Accepted Answer

What is the National Minimum Wage?
The National Minimum Wage is a minimum hourly rate of pay which a worker’s pay must not fall below. It became statute on 1st April 1999 to set a minimum benchmark and to prevent excessively low pay to workers.
It is a legal right which applies to almost all UK workers. The National Living Wage applies from April 2016 to workers aged 25 and over, and from 1 April 2021 to workers aged 23 and over. It is therefore important to check that you are still complying with the law.
What are the rates of the National Minimum Wage?
The current rates are:

£11.44 per hour for workers aged 21 and over.
£8.60 per hour for workers aged 18-20 inclusive.
£6.40 for workers aged 16-17 inclusive.
£6.40 per hour is the apprentice rate.
The daily rate for the accommodation offset is £9.99.

If a worker suspects that their employer is not paying them the National Minimum Wage they can make a complaint about their employer to the HMRC.
HMRC is responsible for enforcing the National Minimum Wage and as well as responding to complaints received by workers they also conduct ad hoc visits to employers to ensure compliance of the National Minimum Wage to workers.
If you do not pay the National Minimum Wage then you may face a penalty of 200% of the arrears of payments you have not made, up to a maximum of £20,000 per worker. There is also a risk of criminal prosecution for deliberate failure to pay the National Minimum Wage.
Who is eligible for the National Minimum Wage?
The National Minimum Wage applies to adult workers that are:

Working legally in the UK
Not genuinely self-employed
Have a written, oral or implied contract

Salary Sacrifice and deductions
Employers with salary sacrifice arrangements must remember that the actual wages the employees receive, after the salary sacrifice, must not fall below the National Minimum Wage.
If an employer is considering making any other deductions from employees’ wages they need to ensure that these deductions are not taken into account for National Minimum Wage purposes.
The above information is not intended to be a complete or definitive statement of the law. For more information or advice please contact our Employment Law team.

Question 14

Unfair Dismissal

Accepted Answer

The laws surrounding the dismissal of employees often cause difficulties for employers and it is crucial that employers know when they can dismiss an employee and what procedures should be followed in order to avoid claims for unfair dismissal.
Can all employees submit claims for unfair dismissal?
There is usually a requirement that an employee must have worked for their employer continuously for more than two years to gain the right to claim unfair dismissal.
However, there are several reasons for dismissal which are deemed to be automatically unfair and employees dismissed for one of those reasons do not need to have accrued two years of service to make a claim.
If the dismissal is automatically unfair, it does not usually matter how long the employee has been employed by the employer in order to bring a claim for unfair dismissal.
Employees under fixed term contracts can also claim for unfair dismissal if their contract is not renewed but ‘temporary’ workers cannot. The legal definitions relating to these types of employees are complex and legal advice should be sought if in doubt.
Why would a dismissal be deemed to be automatically unfair?
There are several reasons why a dismissal would be deemed automatically unfair, the majority of which relate to statutory rights which employees have. The reasons include (but are not limited to):

Pregnancy
Membership of a Trade Union
Health and Safety Issues
Asserting or attempting to assert a statutory right i.e.; the right to be paid the minimum wage

The Five Potentially Fair Reasons
There are five potentially fair reasons for dismissing an employee:
1. Conduct &#8211; this would include theft, bullying of staff, being intoxicated at work and other reasons relating to the actions of the employee. Misconduct must be serious or repeated on several occasions to be a fair reason for dismissing an employee.
2. Capability &#8211; this section would cover circumstances in which an employee is unable to do the job, for example by reason of long term illness, being unable to keep up with the requirements of the job or being unable to work within a team. Employers should be cautious where dismissing employees for reason of illness and bear in mind the Equality Act 2010.
3. Illegality &#8211; This covers situations where it would be illegal for the employer to allow the employee to continue doing their job. An obvious example of this is if a delivery driver loses his driving license.
4. Redundancy &#8211; Redundancy is potentially a fair reason for dismissing employees if the employer relocates, needs fewer workers or restructures. There are specific procedures which must be followed in cases of redundancy. For further information see our Legal Overview on redundancy above.
5. Some other substantial reason &#8211; This section is much wider and allows employers to dismiss employees where there is a very good reason but which is not covered in any of the four sections above.
The employer’s actions in choosing to dismiss an employee for one of the fair reasons must be considered to be a reasonable response to the situation and procedures must be followed.
What are the consequences of dismissing someone unfairly?
If an employee successfully claims unfair dismissal there are several remedies that the Tribunal can order, the most common of which is compensation.
Awards for compensation may include the following elements:

The Basic Award &#8211; usually calculated in the same way as redundancy pay and is based on length of service and pay at the time of dismissal (see our Legal Overview on redundancy pay). The maximum basic award is currently £17,130.
The Compensatory Award &#8211; this element will cover the employee’s loss arising from the dismissal and can include lost earnings (past and future), loss of reputation, loss of pension, loss of accrued statutory rights and loss of benefits. Compensatory awards are usually limited to a maximum figure which is currently £93,878 for dismissals on or after 6th April 2022.
An Additional Award for failure to reinstate may be awarded in cases where the Tribunal orders the employer to reinstate the employee but they refuse to do so.

The above information is not intended to be a complete or definitive statement of the law. For more information or advice please contact our Employment Law team.

Question 15

Working Hours

Accepted Answer

Employee&#8217;s normal working hours should be contained in their contracts and should specify what the working hours are and also detail any working patterns. According to the Working Time Regulations most workers should not have to work more than an average of 48 hours a week, with the average working week calculated over a 17-week period. Workers can however elect to choose to opt out of the 48 hour week by signing an opt out agreement.
The law states that a worker is entitled to a minimum rest period of 11 consecutive hours (12 consecutive hours for young workers) in each 24-hour period during which he/she works for their employer and one whole day off in each working week (2 days for young workers).
Young workers under the age of 18 cannot usually work more than 40 hours a week or an eight hour day.
Rest Breaks
An employee who works longer than 6 hours in a working day is entitled to a rest break which must be a minimum of 20 minutes. Whether breaks are paid or not will depend upon the terms specified in the employment contract.
Overtime
Contracts of employment, office manuals and staff handbooks should refer to overtime pay arrangements in respect of authorised &#8220;extra hours&#8221; worked by employees, as there is no legal right for overtime pay for extra hours worked. Some employers opt to offer employees &#8220;time off in lieu&#8221; instead of paying overtime.
Paid Holiday
Entitlement to paid holiday for workers commences on the first day of employment. The current statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks which, if you work a 5 day week, equates to 28 days.
There is no statutory entitlement to paid time off for public holidays; any rights must be in the terms of the contract. Paid public holidays can be included in the statutory entitlement as dictated by the employment contract, if the contract provides a more generous entitlement then the employee will benefit from that. Part time workers are entitled to the same holiday as their full time colleagues with their entitlements calculated on a pro-rata basis.
Upon termination of employment workers have to be paid for any untaken holiday recalculated up to the last day of employment. There is no legal right to carry holiday forward to the following holiday year unless the contract provides for this. Staff Handbooks or office manuals should have holiday procedures contained to provide clarity to employees.
When do the regulations not apply?
The regulations don&#8217;t apply such as if you are self-employed, running your own business and are free to work for different clients and customers. The regulations also don&#8217;t apply to services such as the armed forces or the police.
The above information is not intended to be a complete or definitive statement of the law. For more information or advice please contact our Employment Law team.

Question 16

Working Part-time and Flexible Working

Accepted Answer

The Part Time Workers Regulations provide that part-time workers are entitled to equal treatment with their full time colleagues.
An employer risks inviting a claim if a part-time employee receives less favourable treatment than full time workers.
There is now also a right for certain employees to request part-time or flexible working hours. Flexible working could mean working less hours, condensing the working week into fewer days, or a change to the place of work or the hours worked.
To make a request the employee must have been in continuous employment with the same employer for a period of not less than 26 weeks and only one request can be made in each 12 month period. This is a right to request flexible working.
An employer is not required to automatically accept the request but must show that proper consideration has been given. Employers can only reject the request it must be for one of 8 specific reasons, as follows:

The burden of additional costs.
A detrimental effect on the ability to meet customer demand.
An inability to reorganise work amongst existing staff.
An inability to recruit additional staff.
A detrimental impact on quality.
A detrimental impact on performance.
Insufficiency of work during periods when you propose to work.
Planned structural changes.

If a request is made it must be dealt with reasonably, and you must inform the Employee of your decision within 3 months, or any longer period which is specifically agreed between you.
If you decide to refuse the application you must state the grounds for refusal. There is no strict requirement to allow an employee to appeal your decision but ACAS recommends that you do.
Employees may have grounds for a claim if their employer fails to deal with requests appropriately and if that claim is successful the Tribunal can award compensation of up to 8 weeks pay. If an employee is dismissed for making a request they may have a claim for unfair dismissal.
The above information is not intended to be a complete or definitive statement of the law. For more information or advice please contact our Employment Law team.

Employment

I’ve got problems at work and need employment advice and support.

Employment.

Our areas of expertise include:

What is Constructive Dismissal?

Examples of action which may give rise to a claim for Constructive Dismissal

Discrimination law is different

No upper limit

Qualifying period

Injury to feelings

Not just dismissal

Three month time limit

Harassment

Burden of proof

National Minimum Wage (these increases applied as from 1st April 2024)

Statutory Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Pay (increases applied as from April 2024)

National Insurance Rates

Redundancy pay and unfair dismissal compensation:

Statutory Sick Pay

Disciplinary Action

Employee Grievances

Maternity Leave

Maternity Pay

Ante-natal care

Returning to work

The right to not be discriminated against

Priority for suitable alternatives in redundancy

When do employees qualify for statutory paternity leave and pay?

How does an employee notify their employer and what information is required?

How long is paternity leave and when does it have to be taken?

Statutory Paternity Pay

Is every employee entitled to a redundancy payment?

What amount of redundancy payment can I expect?

What happens if my employer is in financial difficulty?

Time limits

The reason

The group

Selection criteria

Consultation

Notification

Alternative employment

Payment

So can my employers automatically reject my request for part-time work?

What is the National Minimum Wage?

What are the rates of the National Minimum Wage?

Who is eligible for the National Minimum Wage?

Salary Sacrifice and deductions

Can all employees submit claims for unfair dismissal?

Why would a dismissal be deemed to be automatically unfair?

The Five Potentially Fair Reasons

What are the consequences of dismissing someone unfairly?

Rest Breaks

Overtime

Paid Holiday

When do the regulations not apply?

Contact a member of our Employment team today.

Rachel Fereday

Partner and Head of Litigation & Employment

Andrew Cox

Solicitor, Litigation

Kelly Rogers

Senior Associate, Solicitor, Litigation

Quick enquiry.

News

Ignore Court Orders At Your Peril

National Minimum Wage
(these increases applied as from 1st April 2024)

Statutory Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Pay
(increases applied as from April 2024)