Employment Rights

Employers and employees expect certain things from each other in

business. These are the ‘rights’ of

employment and in order for the business to be successful, these

rights need to be clear.

Business Studies UNIT 2 6th January 2009

Employment Rights

Lesson Objectives:

•To Understand the rights of employees and employers in Business.

• To learn what laws exist to protect these rights in Business.

•To Understand that disputes can occur through failure to protect employment rights.

Learning Outcomes:

•All of you will remember the difference between employee and employer and know of their rights.

•Most of you will see how employment rights influence the workplace and begin to apply this to your supermarket.

•Some of you will begin to evaluate how disputes can be resolved in the workplace and identify areas where this would apply to your supermarket

Starter –

Employee or Employer?• Choose the correct word:As an employ_ _ at Sainsbury’s, I found out from my contract of employment that I was entitled to 10% off my weekly shopping from the supermarket. This has helped to lower my shopping bills and I am very happy with this benefit from Sainsbury’s as my employ_ _.

I was asked to work on Sunday last week by my employ_ _. I had to say no because I had already made plans to visit my Grandparents. My employ_ _ was a little unhappy with me because they were short staffed. As an employ_ _ I was able to refer to my employment contract, I wish I could have worked as I would have been paid double time but I know from my contract that I was within my rights!

Expectations – what sorts?

EMPLOYERS:Their expectations of employees are laid out in the contracts of employment which they provide to employees.

• They expect employees to work with managers and other employees to meet business aims and objectives to grow, this means being flexible and willing to train.

• They expect employees to follow Health & Safety regulations in the workplace. Injury’s = off work = loss of profits

EMPLOYEES:They expect their employers to follow the contract of employment they provided i.e. pay, safe environment to work.

• They expect to be motivated through proper training.

•They expect employers to allow them to join a trade union to help protect their rights (pay, hours, benefits, working conditions)

•They expect the records the employer has on them to be accurate and to be able to check this

This morning you were asked to look into the following laws that protect employees and employers:

Equal Pay Discrimination

Health & Safety

Access to Information – Data Protection Act 1998Employment rights and Working Hours

In teams of 3, sort the cards into the right pairs.

ACTIVITY 1

Make sure that you have at least written the following explanations on your worksheets from this morning:

Equal Pay

Discrimination

Health & Safety

Access to Information – Data Protection Act 1998

Employment rights and Working Hours

- Employees doing the same or similar work as those of the opposite sex are entitled to equal rates of pay and conditions – covered by EQUAL PAY ACT 1970

- Employees are protected against discrimination over gender, race and disability. The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 – genderless job descriptions . The Race Relations Act 1976. Disability Discrimination Act 1995 – Reasons must be substantiated

- Making the work environment safe (can differ depending on businesses activities) The Health & Safety at work Act 1974.

- Allows employees to look at their records to check there are no mistakes

-Includes The Minimum Wage Act 1998, The Employment Act 2002, The Employment Relations Act 1999, The European Working Time Directive 1998

Learning check Point 1

CLASS ACTIVITY

Match the Situation with the Law:

Look at all the Acts and think up a situation to put to the class, see if they can guess the correct Employee Rights Act for your situation.

Employment disagreements regularly occur

How can disagreements be resolved?

RESOLVINGEMPLOYMENT

DISAGREEMENT

GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES

EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE

NEGOTIATIONS WITH TRADE UNIONS OR OTHER REPRESENTATIVE ORGANISATIONS

ARBITRATION SERVICES

EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS

Grievance ProceduresCopy this onto your worksheets – Part 2

What’s a Grievance? is where employees have a complaint against other staff or their treatment at work

What’s a Grievance Procedure? A process which most businesses have as guidance to resolve an employee

complaint.

What should a Grievance Procedure include? • How an employee should make a complaint and to whom

• Who an employee should go to next if they are not satisfied with the outcome• The time it should take to be dealt with• Information that the employee may be represented by someone else – such as a member of their trade union

European Court of Justice

• Copy the definition in the box provided:

The European Court of Justice is a court which decides whether a business in the EU is conforming to (following) the EU Law.

Trade Unions

• Employees may feel it is necessary to get their trade union or a representative involved, if they have one.

• A trade union is made up of workers that join together. They negotiate and bargain with employers over things like pay, conditions, job security & grievances.

• A trade union may take industrial action to further their members interests.

Arbitration ServicesWhen employees and employers cannot agree on a solution

ACAS steps in here (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) They offer 4 different types of service:

1. Industrial Disputes – ACAS becomes involved with resolving disputes between Employers and Unions and encourage agreed settlements.

2. Arbitration is where employees and employers take their case to ACAS who decides who’s case is the strongest. Mediation is when ACAS makes the decision which the employee and employer must then settle on.

3. Advisory Work – ACAS can advise employers and unions to help them make informed decisions

4. Individual Cases – ACAS investigates unfair discrimination or dismissal

Employment Tribunals

This is where the dispute goes if employees and employers cannot resolve it, even with the help of ACAS

A tribunal is made up of 3 people who generally hear complaints on unfair dismissal, redundancy and discrimination

A lawyer chairs the tribunal and the case is heard by the lawyer and 2 other people, often with industrial experience

Employees who win may be given their job back (reinstated), offered a new one or paid compensation.

Learning check Point 2

Match the Activity to the institution:

Activity -a)Negotiates on behalf of its members with employers.b)Makes Decisions based on EU Directives and lawsc)Has the Power to make legal decisions over unfair practice but is less formal than a courtInstitution:

i) European Court of Justiceii) Trade Unionsiii) Employment Tribunals

Coursework type-up : Employer and employee rights

1.Write what the difference is between an employer and an employee

2.What rights and responsibilities does an employer have?

3.Give some examples from your

4.Repeat step 2 for the employee

5.Repeat step 3 for the employee

6.Describe some of the laws that are in place to protect employees/employers

7.For each law say who they protect and why

8.For each law you have discussed give an example related to your

supermarket

9.Define the word ‘dispute’

10.What procedures would your business follow if there were a dispute?

11.Give example from your supermarket of typical disputes that may occur and

how they may have been resolved.

TO GET A and B Grade

•A detailed evaluation of the employee and employer rights and responsibilities

•An evaluation of the procedures for addressing industrial disputes.