Chapter 1
The employment law system
[page 3]Employment rights in the UK have two main sources. The first is the employment contract, which sets out the terms and conditions that have been agreed between the employer and worker. Rights derived from the contract are called contractual rights and are discussed in Chapter 3 of this handbook.
The second source of employment rights is legislation enacted by Parliament in the form of Acts of Parliament or regulations. Rights derived from legislation are referred to as statutory rights (from “statute”— another word for a piece of legislation).