Employment rights and responsibilities: being a team player that challenges directly and supports personally (1 of 2) – Know Your Rights

In this module, we’re going to go over employment rights and responsibilities. Often, people are focused on their rights more than their responsibilities, but they go hand in hand and the more seriously you take your responsibilities, the more likely you are to take full advantage of your rights.

Employers and employees both have rights and responsibilities in the workplace. Employers have a responsibility to provide some basic conditions for their employees, including pay, equality, annual leave, health and safety and compassionate leave. Employees in turn have responsibilities to their employer, including taking care of their own health and safety, and that of others, professionalism, timekeeping, honesty and acting in the employers interests.

“Workers’ rights should be a central focus of development.”

Joseph Stiglitz

Key questions

1. Do you understand what rights you have as an employee?
2. Do you know how to adhere to a code of conduct, and the potential disciplinary procedures if you don’t?
3. Do you know how to handle bullying or stress in the workplace?

Within this module, we’re going to cover;

• Your rights and responsibilities in the workplace
  • National minimum wage
  • Other fundamental rights
  • Agency work
  • Health and safety
• Employee responsibilities and considerations;
  • Code of conduct
  • Disciplinary measures
  • Work related stress
• What to do when your rights are not met
• Workplace confidentiality and cyber security
• Bullying, harassment & discrimination in the workplace
• Trade unions and professional organisations
• Wrap up
• Want to learn more?

Lets get into it!

Your rights and responsibilities in the workplace

National minimum wage

The NMW came into effect in 1999, effecting setting a ‘floor’ to wages. The rate is reviewed annually with any changes coming into effect on 1 October each year, with differing rates for differing ages.

Almost everyone who legally works in the UK is entitled to receive a minimum level of pay as part of the NMW, including temporary, part-time and casual workers. Any tips you are paid must be extra, on top of the minimum wage.

There are minor exceptions such as students on work experience, or where your employer is paying for accommodation (‘accommodation offset’).

Employers cannot take money out of your pay for equipment, clothing or uniforms if it reduces your pay below minimum wage. The current rates are as follows*:

Apprentice rate	£6.40
Under 18	£6.40
Age 18-20	£8.60
Age 21 and over	£11.44

*Rates are changed annually or more frequently. The live rates can be seen here;

Here are some pros and cons to help you

Pros

• Increases income of lowest paid individuals
• Improves worker morale and productivity
• Increases incentive for people to enter labour market and accept jobs
• Helps address regional imbalances

Cons

• Can result in unemployment in competitive markets
• Could encourage black market employment
• Some companies will not be able to afford the wages
• Could lead to inflation

There are other rights you need to be aware of in the workplace…

Holiday pay

A full time worker is currently entitled to a minimum of 5-6 weeks’ (28 days) paid annual holiday a year, which can include bank and public holidays. (There are 8 permanent bank and public holidays each year in the UK). Part-time workers are entitled to paid holiday in direct proportion to the number of days they work each week. It starts building up from a worker’s first day at work, accruing at one twelfth of their entitlement for each month worked. Holiday pay must be based on the worker’s average pay. If, for example, their normal pay includes additional money for unsocial hours, so must holiday pay. If someone stops working, they are entitled to be paid for any leave not taken.

Part time rights

Part-time workers must be treated no less favourably than comparable full-time equivalents. For example, they should get the same hourly rates of pay, the same leave entitlements proportionate to the number of days they work each week, the same entitlement to parental leave and the same access to promotion opportunities.

Sick leave and pay

Statutory sick pay (SSP) must be paid to workers who are sick for at least four days in a row (including weekends and bank holidays and days that a worker does not normally work) and is subject to tax and national insurance contributions. Agency workers are entitled to SSP in the same way as employees if the qualifying conditions are met. SSP is not payable for the first three qualifying days – these days are known as “waiting days”. However, these waiting days do not apply for further periods of illness within 8 weeks of the first illness. The current statutory sick pay rate can be found on the directgov website. It is payable for up to 28 weeks for any one period or series of linked periods of sickness which lasts four days or more.  Employers may have their own sick arrangements that are more generous than the statutory sick pay scheme.

Maternity leave and pay

All pregnant employees – regardless of length of service or the hours they work – are entitled to paid time off for ante-natal care and up to 52 weeks’ statutory maternity leave – made up of 26 weeks ordinary maternity leave and 26 weeks’ additional maternity leave. A minimum of 2 weeks’ leave must be taken after the birth (4 weeks if the employee works in a factory).

They also have the right to benefit from all their contractual terms and conditions (e.g. gym membership) except wages or salary during their entire maternity leave period.

If an employee returns to work during or at the end of ordinary maternity leave, she has the right to return to the same job. If she returns during or at the end of additional maternity leave, she is entitled to return to the same job unless this is impracticable. In this situation she is entitled to return to a similar suitable job on terms and conditions that are no less favourable.

Agency work

If you work for an agency, the agency must pay you for every hour you work, and they must not charge you to find you work. As an agency worker, you are entitled to;

• Written terms and conditions setting out your expected rate of pay, the type of work they will try to find you, length of notice and other relevant details,
• Written details of the job when you are offered a position, including who you will work for, the first day of work, how long they may want you to work and the amount of money that you will earn
• Ending an assignment should you wish, without penalty
• Pay for any work you have undertaken, even if your agency hasn’t been paid by the hiring company.
• Paid holidays and rest breaks
• Take a permanent job with a company where you temped if the hirer wants to take you on permanently. You should not be charged a fee for this or suffer any form of penalty.

Health and Safety

It is vital to have a safe environment to work in. Every worker’s health is important and that means reducing the risk of injury or illness through work-based activities. Everyone should be aware of health and safety issues both for themselves and for the people they work with.

Employers have a responsibility to ensure the health and safety of everyone in their workplace including staff, customers, and members of the public.

They must provide health and safety training to each of their workers. Health and safety signs must be clearly visible throughout the workplace.

Employees responsibilities and considerations

Code of conduct

Workplaces are governed by rules for how people must behave while at work, these are usually found in a document called a ‘code of conduct’. A code of conduct typically includes clauses on:

• Appropriate dress – Most workplaces have guidelines about what to wear.
• Social media use – Businesses are sensitive to how the public sees them. Employees can affect this perception by complaining about work on social media, or displaying private photographs.
• Confidentiality – A degree of secrecy is important to most businesses. They may lose money if a competitor learns what the business is doing. A confidentiality clause will ask employees not to discuss business plans and processes during and after the term of the contract.

Disciplinary measures

You may face disciplinary action if you fail to meet your responsibilities. That said, employers must recognise that you may be affected by problems outside of work. You may be offered counselling as part of the disciplinary process. The steps of disciplinary action can include:

Action	What it means
Verbal warning	Your employer will talk to you about what’s going wrong
Written warning	Formal documents that explain what you’re doing wrong & how you can correct
Retraining	You may be asked to re-learn your job
Dismissal	Your contract of employment is ended by your employer

If you find yourself going through a disciplinary process, consider seeking support if you are not comfortable with the circumstances. Citizen’s advice can be very useful here.  Be careful with what you commit to writing to your employer, but equally staying silent can imply that you agree with the warnings given. Don’t hesitate to get help and advice, either from a professional body like citizens advice, or more informally from family and friends to share your worries, though treat their advice with caution.

Work related stress

Stress is common in the workplace. Employees may:

• not be able to cope with the demands of their job;
• feel that they are unable to have a say about the way they do their work;
• receive inadequate information and support from their colleagues and superiors;
• be subjected to unacceptable behaviours, such as bullying;
• not understand their role;
• feel disoriented by organisational change.

There are many ways to cope with stress:

• Speak to your employer about making adjustments;
• Plan your workload to allow more time to complete tasks;
• Speak to a counsellor about ways to reduce stress;
• Seek medical advice from a GP;
• If necessary, take sick leave to help you recover from stress.

Know what to do when your rights are not being met in part two of this lesson linked below.