A Timeline of UK Employment Rights
Overview
Employment rights have a long history in the UK. Employment rights first started appearing around 200 years ago with the basics of child labour law. Since then, employment rights have expanded into a much larger field of legislation. From the perspective of both employers and employees, it is important to be familiar with employment rights legislation.
In this article, we will set out a timeline of significant employment rights legislation and what each piece means for businesses. It also highlights some key tasks that businesses typically need to undertake when aiming for compliance.
Employment Rights Act 1996
Our timeline begins with the Employment Rights Act 1996, a foundational piece of legislation that encompasses many different areas of employment rights. These include, but are not limited to: employment contracts, wages and pay, working hours, unfair dismissal, redundancy rights and employee protection. The Act largely consolidates prior laws enforced in these areas, encompassing them into a single act.
All businesses are affected by this legislation. Some of the most important tasks to carry out in accordance with the Act are as follows:
- HR Procedures – You need to have relevant HR procedures to cover the requirements set out in this Act. For example, this may include contractual requirements or staff handbooks.
- Clarity on Working Hours – You need to provide clear and coherent details on working hours and flexible working.
- Claims and Dismissals – In any case where these happen, you will need to ensure procedures are well documented and recorded.
Since it was introduced, the Employment Rights Act 1996 has undergone many updates and amendments to keep it up to date with modern working environments. It may be beneficial to familiarise yourself with applicable amendments and what they mean for your business.
Employment Relations Act 2004
In relation to the Employment Rights Act 1996, the Employment Relations Act 2004 focuses on enhancing existing rights for workers. Under this act, trade union rights are strengthened, and fairer dispute resolution procedures are introduced.
All employers and HR departments are affected by this act. Some typical tasks associated include:
- Policy Revision and Training – Alter internal policies and offer training in relation to these employment standards.
- Union Relations – Develop or improve relationships with trade unions to encourage a cooperative approach to industrial relations.
- Compliance Checks – Regularly check policies and procedures to ensure compliance.
Employment Act 2008
The Employment Act 2008 makes more substantial amendments to employment law. The aim of the Act is to make improvements on the dispute resolution process, the operation of employment agencies and the enforcement of employment rights.
Much like the Employment Relations Act 2004, this Act’s typical tasks include policy updates, training and compliance monitoring. All employees should understand changes to dispute resolution procedures, which also particularly affect HR departments. Legal professionals should stay up to date to provide accurate advice, and employment agencies have stricter regulations and standards to comply with.
Further Changes to Employment Legislation
Employment legislation is very frequently updated to stay applicable to modern workplaces. With the recently published Employment Rights Bill 2024, many changes have been set out for the coming months and years.
From both a business perspective and the perspective of employees, it’s important to keep up to date with the ever-changing world of employment legislation, to understand your rights and the rights of your employers. Keeping up to date encourages positive, healthy relationships between a business and its employees.
To make keeping track of changes easy, you might consider adding a variety of employment legislation to your ISO Compliance Register. Updates will be easy to access, simplifying the compliance process.
