Employment

In today’s lesson :

• What happens after the interview?

– Contracts of employment

– Job Descriptions

– Training

– Rights and Responsibilities

– Leaving!

What are Contracts of Employment?

• You will always have a contract of employment, even if you have received nothing in writing

• A contract gives both you and your employer certain rights and obligations.

• The rights that you have are in addition to legal rights such as the right a national minimum wage and to paid holidays

• You cannot sign away legal rights…

• …but other than that you and your employer can agree to whatever terms you wish

What’s in Contracts of Employment?

Contracts of employment usually include such things as:

• amount of wages, including any overtime or bonus pay

• hours of work, including overtime hours (subject to any legal maximum)

• holiday pay, including how much time off you are entitled to (nearly all workers are entitled by law to at least four weeks paid holiday)

• sick pay

• redundancy pay

• how much warning (notice) the employer must give you if you are dismissed

Job Descriptions

• A job description defines the job and what should be expected from the employee

• It must be given within 8 weeks of starting work

• A job description will usually include:

– the job title

– who is accountable for the employee

– the location of the job

– a brief description of what the job entails

– a list of duties and responsibilities

– hours of work

– working conditions and pay

Training

There are different types of training available:

• Induction – when you first start your job

• Staff development – e.g. INSET days – to keep skills up-to-date and introduce new ideas

• In-house – training provided by colleagues, either formally taught or by sharing good ideas

• External – training provided by another organisation, e.g. a training provider

• On-the-job - takes place at the actual job site and involves learning tasks, skills, or procedures in a hands-on manner

• Off-the-job – still on the company premises, but not where the job usually takes place

Rights and Responsibilities

You need to be aware of legislation relating to:

• Equal pay

• Sex discrimination

• Race relations

• Disability Discrimination

And also you need to be aware of

• EU Legislation

Such as that covering the use of VDUs at work

Sex Discrimination

• It is against the law for someone you work for to treat you unfairly because of your sex

• The law on sex discrimination applies to:

– women

– men

– someone who is undergoing, is intending to undergo or has undergone gender reassignment (changing to another sex)

– someone who is discriminated against because they are married or in a registered civil partnership.

Sex Discrimination

• Direct discrimination is where your employer treats you less favourably than someone else who works for them because of your sex, e.g.

– not promoting you to a management position because you are a woman

– not offering a man the post of secretary because you think it’s a woman’s job!

• Indirect discrimination is where your employer has a rule, policy or practice, which though not aimed at you personally, puts you at a disadvantage because of your sex, e.g.

– a requirement to work full time. This is because it may be harder for women, who are more likely than men to be looking after children, to work full time

Sexual Harassment

• The law also protects you against harassment, e.g:

– unwelcome comments of a sexual nature

– unnecessary touching or unwanted physical contact

– leering at someone's body

– displaying offensive material such as posters

– sending offensive e-mails. This includes colleagues downloading pornographic e-mails, even if they aren't sent to you personally.

• And against being treated unfairly if you are pregnant – i.e. you can’t be sacked for having a baby!

Equal Pay

• The law states that men and women are entitled to equal pay where they are doing the same work, or, in some cases, different types of work, but which are considered equivalent. – “like work" means the same, or broadly similar work

– “work rated as equivalent" means different work, but where the jobs have been rated as equivalent under a job evaluation scheme

– “work of equal value" – different work, but which could be rated as equivalent if there had been a job evaluation scheme

• Pay includes all aspects of wages and salaries and includes pensions. The equal pay laws apply to all workers, including those working on a part-time, casual or temporary basis.

Religion and Belief

• It is against the law for someone you work for to treat you less favourably than other workers because you follow a religion or similar belief

• Discrimination at work because of your religion or belief could include:

– requiring you to dress in a certain way or remove sacred items

– making you work at times that are against your religion

– bullying (the law calls this harassment) at work because of your religion.

Disability Discrimination

• The Disability Discrimination Act prohibits employers treating workers less favourably than others on account of their disability (“a physical or mental impairment”).

• Workers are protected at all stages of employment against discrimination, which includes harassment and victimisation.

• Employers also have a duty to take steps and make reasonable adjustments, e.g. to

– Premises

– Equipment

– Working hours and practices

• …to prevent a disabled person from being at a substantial disadvantage.

Termination of Employment

There are many reasons for leaving a job:

• Dismissal – usually for an act of gross misconduct or after a series of verbal and written warnings – for breaking the terms of the contract of employment

• Redundancy – if the company closes or reduces in size

• Resignation – people resign to go to other jobs, to relocate, spend time with their families, etc.

• Retirements – usually (currently) at 65 for a man or 60 for a woman (going up to 65 from 2010)