Employment

Whether you are an employer or employee, issues surrounding employment law are going to concern you on a day to day basis whether you know it. Everyday activities in the workplace are effectively governed by the extensive plethora of laws that have been added to the statute books from inside and outside Europe over the years.

Employment law has been an area subject to a lot of change over recent decades. Getting it wrong or not implementing the law correctly can be expensive and problematic.

If you are an employer your staff will be your most valuable asset. Regulation of the workplace has never been greater and keeping up with changes and ensuring you are compliant is very time consuming and at times confusing. If you are an employee then you can also be faced with having to navigate a lot of terminology and documentation that can seem confusing.

rhw can help with day to day employment law issues and also at times where there are potentially contentious matters such as redundancy or alleged unfair dismissal. Please have a look at the list of all the services we provide on our main employment law page.

With regard to employee dismissal and redundancy rights as an employer, you need to understand what the process is and the correct application of the law. If you get the application of the law wrong in this area you could be faced with a complaint and even a costly tribunal decision.

This is an area that, obviously, both employer and employee hope does not come up as an issue too often. Sometimes it is unavoidable. Being a great employer is as much about getting the more negative aspects of the work environment right as well as running a fair and caring workplace.

If you are an employee you have a right to expect that you will be dealt with in a fair and conscientious manner, even at the point of the termination of the relationship between you and your employer.

Dismissal of an employee can be an extremely difficult process for both sides. It is very important that emotion is put to one side when dealing with the process itself and if you are the employee to seek legal advice if you think you are being dealt with unfairly.

Discrimination can occur across a wide spectrum of identified areas. You should, as an employer of employee, be aware of the issues where discrimination can occur, as identified by current legislation.  Discrimination can occur when you (or someone else) are treated differently in the workplace (or elsewhere) on the basis of one or more of the following areas as laid out by the following protected characteristics. These are protected from discrimination under the Equality Act 2010:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender
• Marriage or civil partnership
• Pregnancy or maternity leave
• Race, including their nationality, skin colour or ethnic or national origins
• Religion or belief (or lack thereof)
• Sexual orientation
• Gender reassignment.

Discrimination can be more complicated than just this list. For example if someone believes you to be something you are not (such as, for example, Gay or a Roman Catholic) and treats you differently even if you are not what they believe you to be, this can still count as discrimination.

It is also possible to be discriminated against because you are closely associated with a person with a protected characteristic. rhw can help with legal advice across the whole spectrum of discrimination.

Need some legal advice on an employment law matter?

email: guildford@www.rhw.co.uk  call: 01483 302000