Main employment rights in summary




Here is a summary of the main employment rights that apply to employees, workers and agency workers.




Main rights available to employees and “workers”




• information about pay, notice and holiday entitlement (see Chapter 4); 




• National Minimum Wage (see Chapter 4); 




• pension auto-enrolment rights (see Chapter 4); 




• protection against unlawful pay deductions (see Chapter 4);




• working hours, rest breaks and a 48-hour week (see Chapter 4);




• statutory holidays (see Chapter 4);




• protection from victimisation for being a union member or engaging in union activities at an appropriate time (see Chapter 5);




• right to access the statutory recognition procedure to have your terms negotiated by an independent union through collective bargaining (see Chapter 5);



• right to be accompanied at a disciplinary/grievance hearing (see Chapters 5 and 10);




• protection from discrimination (see Chapter 7);


• the right to reasonable adjustments for disabled workers (see Chapter 7);




• data protection rights, including the right to make a data subject access request (see Chapter 15);




• statutory protection from risk to health and safety (see LRD’s annual guide, Health and Safety Law at Work) (www.lrdpublications.org.uk/publications.php?pub=BK&iss=1880);



• protection against detriment for whistleblowing (see Chapter 14); 




• protection against detriment and right not to be refused work because of a blacklist (see Chapter 5); and




• protection of a zero hours contract worker against detriment if they work for another employer in breach of a contractual ban (Chapter 2). 




Main rights available to employees but not “workers” 




• written statement of particulars (see Chapter 3);




• statutory minimum notice (see Chapter 10);




• protection from unfair dismissal (see Chapter 10);




• implied contract terms such as mutual trust and confidence (see Chapter 3);




• express contractual rights in the employment contract (see Chapter 3);




• reasonable paid time off for trade union reps for union duties and training where a union is recognised (see Chapter 5);




• reasonable paid time off for union learning reps where a union is recognised (see Chapter 5);




• reasonable unpaid time off for members to engage in union activities where a union is recognised (see Chapter 5);




• reasonable paid time off for safety rep duties and protection from detriment or dismissal for acting as a safety rep (see Chapter 5);




• time off for public duties (see Chapter 4);




• parental leave and pay rights (qualifying agency workers also have rights to pay, but not to leave) (see Chapter 9);



• time off for antenatal and adoption appointments and maternity suspension rights (qualifying agency workers also have these rights) (see Chapter 9);



• statutory sick pay (qualifying agency workers also have these rights) (see Chapter 8);



• unpaid parental leave (see Chapter 9);



• unpaid dependency leave (see Chapter 9);




• right to request flexible working (see Chapter 9);




• right to request time off for study or training (see Chapter 4);




• protection in business transfers (TUPE) (see Chapter 12);




• redundancy pay and rights (see Chapter 11);




• guarantee pay on layoffs or short time working (see Chapter 11); and




• medical suspension pay (see Chapter 9).




Rights available to temporary agency workers




As well as the basic rights available to all “workers”, temporary agency workers have additional rights explained on pages 54-60.




Many of the rights listed above depend on service length and/or earnings. See the relevant Chapter for detailed information about eligibility.