Employment legislation refers to state and integrated laws that protect employees' rights, ban discrimination, and encourage safe working environments. Almost every company follows some type of labor law. Employment law is the branch of law that regulates the employer-employee relationship. As a result, if a firm employs more than one person, it is more likely to be subject to labor laws.
Employment law has evolved dramatically in the previous twenty to twenty-five years, and although some of these developments have been advantageous, some have not. Employment law is one of the most rapidly changing sectors of the law, and there will undoubtedly be many more major developments in the future. We'll go through some of the most important pieces of legislation that have been passed, as well as how the courts have interpreted them.
The Enrollment Rights Act of 1996
The mid-to-late 1990s were undoubtedly dramatic, with a slew of new and significant pieces of labor law making their way through the courts. The Enrollment Rights Act of 1996, which went into force 25 years ago, was one of the most important pieces of legislation (ERA 1996). Many prior enactments about employment rights were merged by the ERA of 1996. Its inception was a significant step forward in assuring both justice and clarity in the workplace, and it remains an essential tool in the arsenal of any employment lawyer or HR manager, including all of its revisions.
Employees now have the right to a formal contract or written statement of particulars within two months of starting work, according to the Employment Relations Act of 1996 (ERA 1996). The goal of the written statement of particulars was to guarantee that employees got written confirmation of important aspects of their employment in the absence of an employment contract. For instance, their hourly wage and rate of pay.
Employees have the right to fair notice before their employer may terminate their enrollment contract under the ERA 1996. Whether or not there was a clause in the employee's contract of enrollment, the requirement to provide reasonable notice now applied. This was and still is known as the ‘minimum statutory notice period,' and it applies unless the employee's contract of enrollment specifies a different notice time.
What constitutes "reasonable" statutory notice for an employee is determined by the total number of years the individual has worked. It might be as little as one week up to a maximum of twelve weeks' notice.
In addition to these rights, the employee was given the option of receiving an itemized pay statement from the business. This may seem like a minor adjustment (and one that we now take for granted), but there was a time when businesses would simply deliver an employee with a tiny brown envelope holding their weekly salary with no information about tax, national insurance, or other deductions. Imagine not being able to figure out how much you earned and how much was deducted. It would be impossible to verify that you were getting paid properly.
On the question of wages, the ERA 1996 incorporated 'wage protection' rules, which included, among other things, the right not to be subjected to unlawful deductions from our pay. This meant that companies couldn't withdraw money from your paycheck unless you agreed to it in your enrollment contract or, failing that, with your explicit approval. No more deductions from your pay because you smashed a wine glass or made a mistake, at least not without your consent. It's worth mentioning that one of the most common allegations, especially when working partnerships break down, is that of illegal salary deductions (usually because the employee has not been reimbursed for untaken vacation days after their job, or has not received their proper last salary).
The portions of the ERA 1996 that protect an employee's right not to be fired unfairly are without a doubt the most relied upon. These rules include the need that the employer provides a reasonable cause for any dismissal. A reasonable basis for dismissal must be one of the ones listed in the Act (and, for the record, disliking one of your workers is unlikely to be a reasonable reason!). Furthermore, before terminating an employee's enrollment contract, the employer must follow a fair method. Gone are the days when an employer could tell an employee to pack their belongings and leave because they didn't like their attitude – at least not without repercussions.
Employment Appeal Tribunal Fees Order 2013
The legal changes outlined thus far have been beneficial; yet, not all new laws are favorably welcomed. The Enrollment Tribunals and Enrollment Appeal Tribunal Fees Order 2013 was perhaps the least popular piece of legislation among employees and enrollment attorneys. Fees for filing claims and bringing them to a full hearing were introduced as part of this fee order. The enrollment tribunal system was free to use from its establishment until July 2013, when the fee order went into effect The implementation of a fee system resulted in a 70-75 percent reduction in the number of claims filed, not because employees did not want to file a claim, but because they either did not see the value in paying to file a claim or simply could not afford to do so (particularly when faced with a loss of employment and a regular wage). Tribunal fees were finally eliminated four years later, in July 2017, when the Supreme Court determined them to be unconstitutional and illegal.