Discuss the employment legislation that governs the modern employment relationship, including employment law such as the working time directive, and contarct of employment rights of workers in various contexts.

Introduction

The employment relationship and the employment market are arguably two of the most important aspects of human resource management and the business world general. Any relationship between people is a very important interaction, but the relationship between an employer and his/her employees is especially important because it is vital to the day to day running of a business. Furthermore, this is an important topic due to the several pieces of legislation that exist to ensure the rights, obligations and expectations of the two parties are made clear and are possible to meet.

The employment market is also an important aspect of human rescource management as it takes into account changing work patterns in the workplace, which in this piece of work will focus on the rise of flexible working. I feel the following statement summarises well the importance of the employment market, “Human resource managers need to understand the dynamics of the employment market in order to deal properlywith resourcing…...and obtain people with essential skills.” Price (1997).

In this essay I will discuss the employment legislation that governs the modern employment relationship, including employment law such as the working time directive, contarct of employment rights of workers in various contexts e.g. maternity rights and the rights of part-time workers. I will then go on to outline the reasons for changing dynamics of the comtemporary employment market, focusing on the rise in flexible working.

The Employment Relationship

The Legal Framework

The employment relationship is governed by a complex mix of individual and collective agreements. Foot and Hook(2002) describe that the various pieces pf this ...

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The Employment Relationship

The Legal Framework

The employment relationship is governed by a complex mix of individual and collective agreements. Foot and Hook(2002) describe that the various pieces pf this legal framework focus on laying out the main rights and obligations of both the employer and employee.

The Contract of Employment

A contract at its most basic level is simply an agreement between the employer and employee. The written statement is evidence that a contarct exists and is a record of what has been agreed between the employer and employee.

Contracts are made up of implied terms and expres terms. Implied terms referring to everyday things which could be taken for granted e.g. dresscode. Express terms refer to more important issues which should be dealt with specifically and agreed upon e.g. salary.

If a situation arises where there is a need for changes to be made to the contract, the employer must give written notice to the employee of these intended changes. In addition to this, if the employer tries to enforce a change without the agreement of the employee, this can be taken as a fundamental breach of contract.

The EU and UK Employment Law

Foot and Hook 2002 tells us that EU law takes affect in several different ways, the two most important being regulations and directives. Regulations have direct affect in member states and override domestic laws. Directives however, do not override domestic laws and have to be implemented through national legislation. Some directives can be adopted by qualified majority voting. This means that the directive must be enacted by all EU member states. An example of this relating to the UK is the European Working Time Directive. The UK government dissented against the directive but were forced to give in and accept the directive in 1993. This directive included imformation on aspects such as rest periods, annual leave, night work, health and safety protection etc.

In 1998 the UK government then published a set of draft regulations related to the EU Working Time Directive (WTD). This WTD was to be implemented by October 1998 and included the following regulations:-

There was to be a maximum of 48 weekly working hours averaged over a period of 17 weeks.
Employees should have 11 consecutive hours rest in any 24 hour period, 24 hours rest in every 7 days and a 20 minute break if work exceeds 6 hours.
There is to be 4 weeks annual paid leave.

Groups of workers the directive doesn’t cover include air, sea and road transport workers.

Written Statement of Particulars of Employment