Employee rights

Contents
1. Employee rights 1.1. Rights created by statute 1.2. Working time regulations 1.3. Discrimination 1.4. Equal pay 1.5. Adoptive leave and pay 1.6. Maternity leave 1.7. Paternity leave 1.8. Pay and time off 1.9. Flexible working 1.10. Right to request flexible working 1.11. Whistleblowing 1.12. Working for a new owner 1.13. Enforcing employee rights 1.14. Grievances

Employees are entitled to certain rights through statute. Many decisions taken during the course of business may affect these rights, and it is important to consider the implications.

The main statutory rights are:

• Not to be discriminated against on the grounds of age, sex, race, disability, sexual orientation and/or religion or belief
• To be paid the National Minimum Wage
• Entitlement to maternity, paternity and parental leave
• Not to be unfairly dismissed
• To be paid a redundancy payment (subject to certain conditions)
• To be given minimum notice when the contract of employment is terminated
• To be entitled to join a trade union
• To be given time off for ante-natal appointments

These are the main statutory rights by law. Below you will find a summary of the topics covered in this section which pertain to the legal rights related to and beyond these statutory rights. This section covers:

The Working Time Regulations provide rights for workers ensuring that they do not have to work excessive hours.

If you discriminate against your employee on the grounds of age, sex, race, disability, sexual orientation and/or religion or belief, political opinion or trade union membership, you may be acting unlawfully.

A woman is entitled to be treated no less favourably than a man in the same employment, where she is employed on 'like work' with a man. The position is the same where the work is rated as equivalent, or the work is of equal value to that of the man in the same employment.

Adoption leave and pay allows one member of an adoptive couple to take paid time off work when their new child starts to live with them.

All pregnant women have a right not to be dismissed for any reason connected with pregnancy or their maternity leave period.

An employee is entitled to take up to two weeks' paternity leave if the employee has or expects to have responsibilities for a baby's upbringing and they otherwise meet the criteria to qualify for paternity leave. See our section on paternity leave to find out more information.

An employer must ensure that all employees are provided with written pay statements. An employer may be required to give paid time off to employees in certain circumstances.

Part-time workers must not be treated less favourably than full-time workers unless that treatment can be objectively justified.

Employees who have:

• A child aged 16 or under
• A disabled child who is under 18 and who is in receipt of disability living allowance
• Or an adult who requires care have a right to request to work flexibly, and an employer must consider their requests seriously.

See the separate article on applications for flexible working for more information.

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (or the Public Interest Disclosure (Northern Ireland) Order 1998) protects workers (not just employees) from being victimised or dismissed for making a disclosure (often in breach of contractual terms concerning confidentiality) in certain circumstances.

If you sell the business and there is a new owner, it does not mean that your employee will be obliged to work for the new owner. The employee will have the right to inform you or the new owner that they object to becoming employed by the new owner.

Employment tribunals enforce most statutory employment rights. They have jurisdiction to hear, for example, unfair dismissal and discrimination claims. Tribunals can also hear some breach of contract claims.

Employment legislation requires you to indicate in employees' statements of terms and conditions to whom, and how they are to apply, if they have any grievance relating to their employment.