Employment laws Essay

Employer and employee agreements are governed by employment regulations. These rules regulate how employers can fire workers and hire new ones. They guard against unfair business practices that hurt workers and counteract flaws in the financial system that limit workers’ capacity to defend themselves against losing their jobs and maintain firm-specific human capital. The protection of employment laws discourage job creation in addition to job destruction by adding costs to firms’ efforts to adjust to demand and technological changes. This ultimately prevents effective productivity growth and labor allocations. (Scarpetta, 2014). In some cases, stringent employment protection legislations hampers labor market flows effectiveness and the allocation of labor to some most productive jobs, and this harms growth and productivity. Workers profit from efficient allocation of employment opportunities via increased real wages, and better career progression. However, displaced workers suffer from lower real wages and extended unemployment spells in new jobs.

Every country has regulations and laws that govern firing and hiring of employees under various kinds of labor contracts. The legislations vary broadly, both in their enforcement and in legal provisions. Policymakers and economists have long discussed implications of employment protection legislations based on the behavior of workers and principles, values and strategic goals of a firm. The intervention of policies is justified through the need to offer protection to workers from imperfections and arbitrary actions in financial markets, which limit the ability of workers to insure themselves against dismissal risks. In addition, there are efficiency considerations in that the firing and hiring regulations boost long-lasting relationships, which encourages the firm to invest heavily in human capital. However, in a bid to bar firms from swift responses to changes in technology and demand, stringent employment protection regulations prevents the mobility of labor, ultimate allocation of labor to the most efficient and effective uses, and finally productivity growth (Jonathan, 2006). The employment protection also depends on interpretations of legislations by tribunals, courts, and the effectiveness of enforcements (OECD, 2013). Many countries describe unfair dismissal narrowly, though workers are mostly compensated if termination of their employment is wrongful or unfair. In other countries, compensation is ordinarily zero or low, but unfair dismissal is widely interpreted and compensation for unfair dismissal put high. Additionally, with major exceptions of some of the emerging economies in the market, a greater consensus among policymakers seem to be in existent, in which case collective dismissal leads to more negative externalities and require stricter protection.

Law

In UK, all employees are under the terms and conditions with their employers. This is referred to as the common law that is the legal basis for employee/employer relationship. Both employee and employer contract is guided by the common law of contract. Nevertheless, there are certain mandatory statutory employment protection rights that apply no matter the provisions of the contract. Other forums that decide on legal disputes between employees and employers include employment tribunals and the arbitration scheme run by the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS, 2017). The ACAS Code of Practice on Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures provides a practical guidance on how to deal with employer/employee disputes. However, the code is not legally binding and incase it is breached it does not render employers liable to any legal proceedings. From October 1, 2004, employees and employers are obliged to comply with statutory disciplinary and dismissal procedures (SDDP, 2007) and the grievance procedures (SGPs) (Stauff, Gross & and Private, PLLC, 2015). The SDDP obliges employers to offer workers with a statement indicating the events leading to the actions taken, hold a meeting aimed at informing an employee the outcomes of the action taken and their right to appeal, and the employee to notify the employer they wish to appeal. The amended SDDP that is applied in a restrained class of gross misconduct cases obliges employers to dictate in writing purported misconduct, reasons behind the guilt allegations of an employee and the right to appeal. In cases where employer dismisses a worker without evidence of completion of the applicable SDDP, such an act is automatically unfair and ACAS intervenes. When an employer fails to adhere to applicable SGP or SDDP, the Employment Tribunal increases the compensation amount that is payable to the employee. An employee failing to observe applicable SGP or SDPP puts him in a position to be barred from bringing any employment claims (The Government of UK, 2008).

According to a The World Bank (2015), the introduction of new technology presents both benefits and challenges to employees depending on their skills. Thus, the ability of workers taking advantage of technological opportunities varies significantly with regard to levels of skills. Those with more skills benefit while those with lower skills might be more exposed to reduced work quality and risk of losing a job. In light of this, an employee may be forced to change his tools into modern tools if it will lead to increase in productivity of the firm. However, the law requires an employer to notify and provide training to an employee prior the use of the new tools. According to the government of UK (2017), employers are not supposed to turn down a job applicant due to past conviction of an offence, unless there are exceptions in place. Moreover, job applicants should not disclose their spent cautions or convictions to potential employers. The rehabilition of Offenders Act 1974 (Government of UK, 2017) is a law that protects individuals who have spent less than 4 years in prison and are thus legible for employment. However, in some cases it does not apply. After an ammendment to the rehabilitation of offenders Act 1974, any criminal convictions should not be closed after the end of the rehabiliation period (The Government of UK, 2017). Rehabilitation period as defined under subsection (a) and (b) is reckoned dating from the time of conviction under which the sentence was imposed. The shortest rehabilitation duration available when a conviction is imposed at the court is an absolute discharge in which case the period is 6 months. Any wrongful dismissal requires an employee to file claims regarding the breach of contract when an employer ends their employment without notifying them. In such a case, the employer can defend himself on the basis of a) he/she is entitled to dismiss an employee without any notice and b) proper notice regarding termination of the employment has been issued. When the above are not applicable, the employee is entitled to compensation with an amount equal to value of their benefits and salary. According to UNISON (2017), both men and women should not be discriminated when it comes to employment. The Equality Act 2010 in UK offers protection for people against discrimination in wider society and workplaces. The Act applies from October 1, 2010 and protects against discrimination on the following basis; age, transsexual or homosexual person, being in civil partnership or marriage, being pregnant, disability, race that include nationality, colour, national origin, ethnic, religion, sex, and sexual orientations (The Government of UK, 2017). Equality Act 2010 protects against direct and indirect discrimination, harrasment and victimisation. In some circumstances, though limited, some jobs may require men or women and is known as occupational requirement (ACAS, 2017).

Application

Question 1

According to the UK’s terms and conditions of common law, there are certain terms and conditions that will determine the nature of the relationship between Fatama and her employer. This common law of contract will only apply upto certain extent. With refernce to Employment Rights Act 1996 (UK Government, 2017), an employee is entitled to statement of initial employment particulars. In this case, Fatama is entitled to use the old technology if a statement has been in place as she contracted with Softy Furnishing Ltd. If the statement regarding the use if technology has not been provided, then Fatama is obliged to change the equipment. Moreover, Graham is well-qualified and has the right to bring into business tools and equipment that will boost productivity of the firm. The employer must, therefore, provide adequate training to Fatama failure to which she may be dismissed.

Offenders Act 1974 states that an employer should not reject a job applicant due to past offensive convictions, but should rather consider the duration of that past conviction. If the applicant has been convicted for more that 4 years, he is not legible to be employed and vice versa. For Sidney case, he had spent 6 years in prison making it unacceptable to be employed according to the Offenders Act 1974. Moreover, the employer is not liable to dismissal or rejection of the application. Sabrina has worked for the company in 6 years and had failed to disclose her past offenses during hiring that she hd committed 20 years ago. When the employer discovered about the offense she is dismissed. The Offenders Act 1974 requires that an employee or an applicant is not mandated to dislose their past offenses. Also, considering that th shortes rehabilitation should be 6 months and Sabrina had spent only 9 weeks, the employer may have some defense. However, the dismissal of Sabrina after working for 6 years is unfair and she should approach Employment Tribunal bodies to file claims against unfair dismissal. She is entitled to compensation in an amount equal to her salary or re-employment.

According to Equality Act 2010, all individuals regardless of their gender, sex, race, etc should not be discriminated during hiring. Instead, hiring should be done in accordance to qualifications. Considering the case of the two women, the rejection is unfair since they are qualified for the job and discriminated due to their gender. However, certain provisions of the act protects employers against any lawsuit if the job is strictly for men or women. Thus, the employer is not liable to his actions. For Joseph, the management sees his homosexual nature as a posibility to influence macho dynamics of the group working in the warehouse. In Equality Act 2010, the reference of effects to macho dynamics of the group is a form of indirect discrimination just as it is for the two women. For the two cases, the employer is liable to the rule of law. The two women and Joseph can complain directly, use tribunals or take the matter to court where they can make a claim.

Conclusion

There are many laws guiding against unfair employment practices by the employers. However, the laws do not exist to only protect the employees but to ensure a fair and justifiable relationship between the employee and the employer. In UK, employment laws encompass discrimination, bonuses, compromise agreements, dismissals, job references, maternity, notice, office bullying, redundancy, settlement agreements, restrictive covenants, sexual orientations, working parents among others. All these laws are described under existing legislative Acts made and formulated by the government. When duly complied with, these laws provide justice to employees and employers on equitable terms and conditions. The legislations on employment protection for employees who enter into regular contracts with firms focuses on conditions or terms under which employment is terminated and includes notification and the involvement of third parties (labor inspectorates, courts, and worker’s councils), severance pay and notice periods, conditions permissible to lay off a worker, and consequences of unfair worker dismissal. The employment protection regulations offer regulatory contexts for temporary and fixed-term work agency contracts, the nature of work under contracts and fair pay requirements. Usually, employment protection is indicated in individual employment contracts and collective agreements. As technology changes it is pivotal for employment laws to be amended in order to match with current demands.

References

ACAS. (2017, April 4). Disputes and problems at work. Retrieved from ACAS: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1364

ACAS. (2017, April). Sex discrimination. Retrieved from ACAS: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1814

Government of UK. (2017, March 27). Ex-offenders and employment. Gov.UK. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/exoffenders-and-employment

Government of UK. (2017, March 30). Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. theInformationHub. Retrieved from http://hub.unlock.org.uk/information/rehabilitation-of-offenders-act-1974/

Jonathan, S. L. (2006). The Impact of Affirmative Action Regulation and Equal Employment Law on Black Employment. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 4(4), 47-63.

OECD. (2013). Employment Outlook. Paris, France: OECD Publishing.

Scarpetta, S. (2014). Employment protection. IZA World of Labor. doi:10.15185/izawol.12

SDDP. (2007, September 28). Employment Update: SDDP. Retrieved from Bird & Bird: https://www.twobirds.com/en/news/articles/2007/employment-update-sddp

Stauff, Gross & and Private, PLLC. (2015, April 29). What is employment law? Retrieved from SGP: http://sgpnclaw.com/employment-law/

The Government of UK. (2008). A GUIDE TO UK EMPLOYMENT LAW. UK Government. Retrieved from www.tim-russell.co.uk

The Government of UK. (2017, March 27). Discrimination: your rights. Retrieved from Gov.UK: https://www.gov.uk/discrimination-your-rights/types-of-discrimination

The Government of UK. (2017, March 30). Pre 10th March 2014 guide to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. theInformationHub. Retrieved from http://hub.unlock.org.uk/knowledgebase/rehabilitation-offenders-act-1974-2/

The World Bank. (2015). The Effects of Technology on Employment and Implications for Public Employment Services. Istanbul, Turkey: World Bank.

UK Government. (2017, March 30). Employment Rights Act 1996. Retrieved from legislation.gov.uk: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/contents

UNISON. (2017). Gender discrimination. Retrieved from UNISON: https://www.unison.org.uk/get-help/knowledge/discrimination/gender-discrimination/