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Your employment rights

If you've got a query about your rights at work, Prospect can help. As well as dealing with members' individual queries we produce an employment rights factcard, and a series of members' guides covering key issues in more detail.

legal rights factcardThese are examples of the questions we deal with on a daily basis.

  • Am I entitled to a contract setting out the terms of my employment?
  • I have applied for promotion to the next grade several times, but am never successful. In the last promotion round I was sure I was well qualified and suited for promotion. I am now beginning to think that this is due to my race. Can I take a claim to an employment tribunal?
  • I have been working at my job for several years and a new person has just been recruited to do the same job as I do, but they are being paid £3,000 per year more than I am. Am I not entitled to equal pay?
  • I have been off work with chronic fatigue syndrome for several months, my doctor thinks I am ready to go back but that I should have a gradual return to work, rather than going back to full duties immediately. Can I ask my employer for this?
  • How much annual leave am I entitled to?
  • Can my employer insist I work on bank holidays?

Do you need advice or help with a work-related issue?

Members: log in now to download any of the documents below.

Employment law resources

Factcards

Legal rights Download now: Updated factcard outlining your legal rights at work as at August 2011.
Updated factcard outlining your legal rights at work as at August 2011.

Members' guides

02 Early retirement, severance and redundancy in the civil service Download now: This guide is out-of-date and no longer available to download.
03 Harassment and bullying Download now: What is harassment, and how to deal with it
04 Individual contracts of employment Download now: Your legal rights if you're employed on an individual contract; how to negotiate your own contract; and the pitfalls to avoid
06 e-mail and the internet at work Download now: The spread of email and the internet at work has raised new issues for trade union members and representatives. Prospect has seen a growing number of disciplinary cases connected to the use of computer facilities. Members need to be aware that inappropriate use of these facilities can result in disciplinary action and dismissal.
08 Work-related stress Download now: The causes of stress, its effect on health, its symptoms, and employers' legal duties (updated March 2010)
09 Fixed term contracts Download now: This guide summarises the legal rights to equal treatment for fixed-term contract employees and the limitations on extending the fixed-term beyond four years. It also describes the other general rights for workers on fixed-term contracts.
11 Employment tribunals Download now: This guide explains the process of progressing a claim through an Employment Tribunal (ET). Updated July 2009
12 Parental and family leave Download now: This booklet - updated in January 2009 - explains everyone's rights under the Maternity and Parental Leave regulations and the Paternity and Adoptive Leave regulations. It also indicates how your employer can improve upon the minimum provisions. It complements our Members' Guide 13 to Maternity Rights, which sets out entitlement to maternity pay and leave. IMPORTANT NOTE - Enitlement to parental leave increased from 13 to 18 weeks from 8 MARCH 2013
13 Maternity rights Download now: Your rights to maternity leave and pay updated in September 2009
15 TUPE regulations Download now: Your rights when a business or organisation transfers to a new employer.
16 Part-time and flexible working Download now: How flexible and reduced patterns of work can help you balance your working life with your personal life
17 Equality at work Download now: An overview of the legal rights that relate to equal opportunities at work as at October 2010. This replaces the earlier guide 'equal opportunities and the law.'
24 Redundancy Download now: Addresses a number of employment law issues that arise in the context of redundancy, from identifying what a redundancy is through to discriminatory treatment and unfair dismissals. Also looks briefly at negotiating a redundancy policy. This guide is part of our Members' Assistance Programme (MAP) - see http://www.prospect.org.uk/adviceandservices/redundancy

Employment law updates

 
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Employment Law Update number 351 – 2 May 2013 Enterprise & Regulatory Reform Act 2013 Download now: The Enterprise & Regulatory Reform Act (ERRA) received royal assent this week. The Act introduces a number of seriously detrimental changes to workers’ rights. Many of our updates over the last year have covered the measures being considered in the Bill and charted their progress. In this note we summarise the changes in the Act and update our on-going table of changes.
0342 - Career Breaks & Voluntary Redundancy Download now: In an interesting judgment this month the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled that to exclude people on career breaks from a voluntary redundancy exercise was unlawful under the Equality Act. Furthermore the remedy was to award the Claimant the full amount of redundancy pay, without offsetting her on-going earnings.
0341 - ‘Shares for Rights’ & Summary of Employment Law Changes Download now: The Lords this week voted convincingly against the introduction of the appalling Shares for Rights scheme, this is not necessarily the last we will hear of it though, because the Bill goes back to the Commons.
0339 - Redundancy – Round up of recent case law Download now: This update summarises some key judgments on redundancy that have been released in the last year. It builds on the earlier update on Redundancy and Unfair Selection (320), bringing all key recent judgments together into one update.
0322 - Retirement Age & Unfair Dismissal Download now: The default retirement age of 65 was abolished in 2011, but due to transitional provisions which enabled employers to rely on retirement age as a reason for dismissal if notice was given before April 2011, the final possible date for compulsory retirement under the old provisions was 3 October 2012
0319 - Annual Leave and Sickness Download now: A new Court of Appeal Judgment has confirmed that where a worker is unable to take annual leave due under the Working Time Regulations because they are off sick, they must be allowed to take it at another time and if necessary carry it forward into a new leave year. This will apply whether or not a request to take the leave was made.
0318 - Employment Tribunal Fees Download now: The Government have today published their response to the recent consultation on charging fees in Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
315 - Employment Tribunal Statistics – 1 April 2011 – 31 March 2012 Download now: This update summarises the Employment Tribunal statistics for the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012.
311 - Employment Rights & the Queen's Speech Download now: The Queen’s Speech earlier today gave scope for bringing in several of the damaging employment law reforms on the Government’s agenda, but was vague on specific proposals.
0310 Age discrimination - disadvantage & justification Download now: The Supreme Court has today issued judgment on two long running cases on age discrimination for older workers. The judgments are extremely significant as they clarify the tests for indirect discrimination and justification.
0309 - Equal Treatment for Agency Workers – Request for information Download now: The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 came into force on 1 October 2011. The Regulations give temporary agency workers the right to equal treatment on pay, holidays and working time after a 12 week qualifying period.
0308 - Tribunal & Unfair Dismissal changes from 6 April 2012 & future proposals Download now: Significant detrimental changes to employment law and tribunal proceedings will come into effect from 6 April 2012.
0307 - Unfair Dismissal - Working Abroad Download now: Supreme Court in Ravat v Halliburton Manufacturing and Services Ltd extended the ambit of jurisdiction in relation to employees working abroad for the purposes of claiming unfair dismissal in the British courts.
0306 - The Equality Act 2010 [Amendment] Order 2012 no. 334 - Confusion over Compromise Agreements is Resolves Download now: The Equality Act 2010 [Amendment] Order 2012 no. 334
0302 - Introduction of Fees for Employment Tribunals Download now: The Government have today issued the expected consultation document on the introduction of fees for bringing Employment Tribunal or Employment Appeal Tribunal claims.
 
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