What does employment law cover in the UK?
As a jobseeker or current employee, you are protected by employment law. But, what exactly is the employment law, when does it apply to you and what are some of the things it covers? In this blog, we’ll explain what it is, who its for and the scenarios in which it most commonly applies.
What is employment law?
Put simply, the employment law is a set of rules and regulations business owners must comply with in regards to their employees. It covers employee rights, and the responsibilities and obligations of the employer. Employment law applies in all sorts of cases relating to discrimination, health and safety, equality and more.
Who does it apply to?
Employment law covers both existing employees and candidates within the hiring process. Even if you are not yet employed, you are still protected by these laws and plenty of the rules and regulations exist specifically to help ensure candidates are treated fairly and none have an unfair advantage. Another important thing to note is that, in general, employment law focuses on the best interest for employees rather than the employer themselves.
So, if you’re currently employed or are a potential employee, you are protected by the UK’s current employment laws.
Key factors covered by the UK employment law
The UK’s employment law is vast and covers hundreds of areas and is applicable in way more scenarios than we can talk about here. However, we’ll quickly cover the main cases in which employment law comes into action;
- Low pay / unfair pay - it’s an employee right, under the employment law, to be paid at least the national minimum wage for their age bracket. As of April 2019, an estimated 439,000 workers in the UK are being paid below their designated minimum wage.
- Sexual harassment - of course, sexual harassment across all varients is illegal but, within the employment law, this is any form of innapropriate behavior which causes the victim to either be unable to work or decease their ability to work. Safeline have a great summary on recent research into this topic here.
- Discrimination - an umbrella term that covers a wide range of different topics. When relating discrimination to employment law it covers the treatment of employees and potential candidates. This can range anywhere from not choosing a candidate due to their background or physical disabilities to things such as giving women lesser important jobs and much more. A survey conducted in 2018 discovered that more than 25% of UK workers say they have experienced workplace discrimination.
- Unfair and improper termination - this is when an employer improperly terminates an employees contract based on wrongful grounds. Tying in to discrimination, an employer cannot fire a worker based on things such as their religious beliefs, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender etc.
Employment with Prestige Recruitment
At Prestige, we’re 100% committed to supporting our candidates. offering an ethical, professionalrecruitment service from the moment they step through our door.
Additional information about the way we work, our industry accreditations, awards and association memberships can be found athttps://www.prestige-recruitment.com/about-us
Alternatively, for more about how we can help you find your next employees, please contact your local Prestige Recruitment office inHull,Norwich,Leeds orHuddersfield.