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 legal guide, Health and Safety Law at Work);




• protection against detriment for whistleblowing (see Chapter 13); 





• 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 (this right is to be extended to all workers from April 2020) (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 4); and





• medical suspension pay (see Chapter 4).





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 53-60.





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