Employment Law: Regulations, Institutions, and Case Study

This article provides an overview of employment law in the UK, including the meaning of employment law, employer and employee, duties and rights of employer and employee, regulations and institutions of employment law, and case study on Rhidian Welsh and his contractual obligations. It also discusses the Employment Act 2006, Equality Act 2010, and National Minimum Wage Act 1998.

EMPLOYMENT LAW

Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................3
Meaning of employment law- .........................................................................................................3
Meaning of employer and employee- .............................................................................................4
Difference between employer and employee-.................................................................................4
Duties and rights of employer and employee-.................................................................................4
Regulations and institutions of employment law- ..........................................................................5
Employment Act , 2006 -.................................................................................................................5
Equality Act ,2010-..........................................................................................................................6
National Minimum Wage Act, 1998-...............................................................................................7
Case study:.......................................................................................................................................7
1. Rhidian Welsh- ......................................................................................................................7
2.Helena Bailey...........................................................................................................................8
Conclusion..........................................................................................................................................10
References...........................................................................................................................................11

Introduction
The Employment Law is one of the essential law in any legal system as it basically deals
with the rights and duties of the employer and the employee. It basically protects the employees
from being exploited by the employer. It creates the rules and principles that should be followed by
both employer and employee in order to run their relation smoothly1. It provides the regulations for
unfair dismissal, remuneration, working hours, health and safety of the employee, leaves,
recruitment, etc. This project discusses about the legislations, related case laws of employment law,
polices related to employment law and institutions which govern these laws. Moreover, it also
clarifies the two cases of Rhidian Welsh and Helena Bailey which deals with contractual
obligations and Right to religion respectively. Further, it also discusses about the addition and
abortion of the company's staff.
Meaning of employment law-
Employment law refers to the law which gives detailed clarification about the relationship
between the employer and the employee. The employment law provides for the principles that are
just and fair for both the employer and the employee. It also deals with the recruiting and dismissal
of the employee under the specified conditions2. It also provides assistance to employees to earn at
least minimum wage of the country as specified in National Minimum Wages where an individual is
liable to earn minimum wage if he is above 23 years of age. The Equality Act, 2010 specifies that
no discrimination should be done among the employees on the basis of caste, religion, gender,
grace, etc. so as to ensure free and fair treatment to all the employees of the company. Moreover, the
Work Act ,1974 provides for the healthy and safe working conditions for the employees of the
company. Further more, it also provides for the contractual obligations under employment,
maternity leave, equal pay for equal work, sick leaves,etc.
1 'Employment Rights Act 1996' (Legislation.gov.uk, 2022)
<https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/contents> accessed 24 March 2022
2 'Employment Rights Act 1996' (Legislation.gov.uk, 2022)
<https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/contents> accessed 24 March 2022
(2022) <https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-employment-law-an-introduction-to-employment-
law.html> accessed 24 March 2022

Meaning of employer and employee-
The employer and the employee are the two essential parties in any of the employment law.
Both the employer and the employee are dependent on each other under employment law.
Employer: The term employer means the person who recruits another person for giving him the
employment. Employer includes all the organisations, companies and enterprises who hire people to
work in their organisation while providing them regular payrolls3.
Employee: The employee is the person who is recruited for the employment by the employer.
Employee includes fully or part time working employees of the company.
It also include people who works in season, freelancer, experts working for short period of time.
Difference between employer and employee-
The employer and the employee differs from each other in many ways as described below:
The first difference between employer and employee is related to salary. Almost one fourth part of
the employer's salary is the total wages of the employee. The second difference is of the objective
and goal. The objective of the employer is to grow the business and develop it but the employee's
aim is just to secure its finance in exchange of services he is offering to the employer. The third
main difference is of the working of the employer and employee. The work of the employer is to
hire the employees and to see towards the working of the employees along with their allotment of
paid sick leaves, maternity leaves, etc.4 . In contrast to this, the employee is responsible to complete
the given task in an efficient and effective manner. The fourth difference is related to the controlling
power of the employer and the employee. The employer controls the day to day functioning of the
company whereas the employee works only according to the terms and conditions as stated in the
contract of employment. Hence, by this difference it could be understood that the employer has
more controlling powers if compared with employee of the company.
Duties and rights of employer and employee-
The term right refers to a condition where one person is entitle to a certain specific favour
for his benefit. The term duty refers to a situation where a person is under an obligation to act in a
3 US Legal I, 'Employment Law Law And Legal Definition | Uslegal, Inc.'
(Definitions.uslegal.com, 2022) <https://definitions.uslegal.com/e/employment-law/>
accessed 24 March 2022
4 'Employment Status' (GOV.UK, 2022)
<https://www.gov.uk/employment-status/employee> accessed 24 March 2022

certain way in order to protect the right of other person from getting violated. The right and duty go
hand in hand5. This means that if the person who is entitle to follow its duty doesn't follow it, then it
will lead to violation of some other person's right. For instance, it is the duty of the employer to pay
salary on time. But, if the employer doesn't pay salary on time, then the right of the employee to get
salary on time will get violated. So, one has to fulfil its duty in order to save the rights of the other
person. The rights and the duties are mainly dependent on factors like social, ethical, legal, etc.
Regulations and institutions of employment law-
There are various regulations and institutions for the employment law in UK. But, mainly there are
three main employment acts which discusses about the employment relations between the employer
and the employee. These laws includes Equality Act 2010, National Minimum Wage Act 1998 and
Employment Act 20066.
Employment Act , 2006 -
There are certain rights of the employee as provided under the Employment Act, 2006 as
described below-
 The employees are liable to be paid for their working hours regularly.
 Employees must get minimum wages as prescribed under the Minimum Wage Act7.
 There must be a contract between the employer and the employee before admission into the
company.
 Every employee must get the maternity benefits, break from work, paid vacation holidays in
an organisation.
 Each and every employee must get the right to follow its religion without any conjugation
from anyone in the company.
 The workers of the company must get safe and healthy environment in the company.
 It is the right of the employee to connect with any specific trade association. The employer
5 Phillips G, and Scott K, Employment Law (2021)
6 'Employment Law | CIPD' (CIPD, 2018)
<https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/emp-law> accessed 24 March 2022
7 'Equality Act 2010: Guidance' (GOV.UK, 2022) <https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-
act-2010-guidance> accessed 24 March 2022

cannot bound the employee to not link with any particular association.
The Employment Act also provides for the duties of the employees that is to be followed by the
employee as given below-
 The employee is obliged to follow the rules and regulations of the company.
 It is the duty of the employee to fulfil all the conditions as specified in the contract of
employment before summing up its work8.
 It is the responsibility of the employee to be present in the office at the working hours of the
company as decided by the mutual agreement between the employer and the employee of
the company.
 The employee is bound to not disclose any of the relevant trade secret or documents of the
company which may result into the loss of the company to any of the person outside the
company.
 The employee must not share any of the confidential information outside the company.
 It is the duty of the employee to maintain the dignity in the office among its colleagues.
 The employee must not treat anyone with inequality so as to enhance the discrimination
among the other workers of the office.
 It is the obligation of every employee to go through with the training period of the company
while entering into the company.
There are various rights of employers as provided by the Employment Act, 2006 are as follows-
 Every employer must have knowledge of its organisational objectives and goals.
 It is the right of every employer to recruit at the time of recruitment in the organisation.
 The employer can terminate any employee at any time if the employee has committed any
Illegal act in the company.
 It is the right of the employer that every employee must show him loyalty.
There are several duties of the employer as specified under the Employment Act, 2006 as follows-
 It is the duty of every employer that each and every employee must feel risk-free and easy
within the surrounding of the organisation.
 The employer must pay equally for equal work done by the employees.
8 'Legislation.Gov.Uk' (Legislation.gov.uk, 2022)
<https://www.legislation.gov.uk/title/equality%20act> accessed 24 March 2022

 It should not discriminate the employees that affects the employees emotionally, mentally or
socially9.
 There must not be any discrimination among the different departments of the company.
Further, the provisions in clause 2 of section 1 specifies the vital conditions about the contract while
the employee enters into the company. The section 135 deals with the right to reward to
employee when any default is due to the employer.
Equality Act ,2010-
The main objective of Equality Act is to provide equality to all the employees of the
company. Its main goal is that no employee should be discriminated on the basis of race, caste,
gender, religion, disability, etc. Earlier before the commencement of this act, various other acts were
present namely Race Discrimination Act, Sex Discrimination Act, etc10. This act collaborated all
these acts and now only this act is applicable in the country. Hence, it made it easy for the people to
understand this single law in place of many laws that were applicable earlier in UK. This law
specifies that any type of discrimination whether at work place or in public place is not acceptable
in any condition.
National Minimum Wage Act, 1998-
This act provides for the minimum wage which a employee is liable to earn in any condition.
According to this act, every employer has to pay minimum wages as prescribed by the law to every
employee. The minimum wage from 1st April 2021 of 23 years old employee is £8.91 and for the
age group of 21 to 22 years of age is £8.36. The contracts which specifies the wages to be less than
the minimum wages is void in the eyes of law. It is also known as national living wage. It protects
the employees from getting exploited from the employers.
9 'Legislation.Gov.Uk' (Legislation.gov.uk, 2022)
<https://www.legislation.gov.uk/title/equality%20act> accessed 24 March 2022
10 United Kingdom 2020 Archives' (Amnesty International, 2019)
<https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/europe-and-central-asia/united-kingdom/report-
united-kingdom/> accessed 24 March 2022

Case study:
1. Rhidian Welsh-
In the given case, Rhidian was working at a stall of fruit and vegetables. He used to work
four days in a week for 6 months. The problem arises when he applied for mortgage loan at
Extortion Bank Limited. The bank asked for the pay slips of 3 months, but Rhidian never received
any of the pay slips during his employment period. When he went to the employer for the pay rolls
of his employment period, the employer got frustrated and denied to give such pay rolls. So, firstly
the question arises that whether Rhidian was an employee or not in the eyes of law. As per the
section 230 of the Employment Rights Act, 1996 employee is the person who has entered into a
contract related to employment11. Such type of contract can be in implied or expressed form. These
type of employment contract can be oral or written. Moreover, such contracts are generally in
written form. But, in the absence of such written contracts the courts can also consider the oral
contracts as they are also enforceable by the law. So, from the above provisions of law, it can be
summarised that Rhidian was an employee in the eyes of law as he did regular work of six hours
from 8 am to 2 pm. He worked four days a week. Further more, his salary was also fixed. So, this
brings to the conclusion that he lies under the category of employee under the Employment Rights
Act, 199612.
Legal issues:
There are two legal issues in this case as follows-
 Whether the employer of Rhidian is under the legal obligation of providing him the pay slips
or not?
 Whether the contract made under implied form is legally enforceable by the employment
laws in UK?
The answer to the first legal issue of whether he is entitled to receive the pay slips is in
positive sense as per the provisions of Payment of Wages Act, 1991. This act deals basically with
the payrolls of the employee given by the employer. According to this Act, it is the right of every
11 'Human Rights In The United Kingdom - Wikipedia' (En.wikipedia.org, 2020)
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_United_Kingdom> accessed 24
March 2022
'
12 'Employment Rights Act 1996' (Legislation.gov.uk, 2022)
<https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/contents> accessed 24 March 2022

employee to receive pay slips from the employer. Pay slips are generally the statements in writing
which declares the total salary of the employee. Its gives the total details of salary in ctc and income
after deductions including the tax. It is important for both emplyer and employee as it will give the
detailed view of the earnings of the employee. This will enable the workers to ascertain their actual
earnings as seen in this case where Rhidian was unable to get loan only due to lack of pay slips. In
addition to this, the government of UK made mandatory to record the time period of work in the
pay slips in 201913. This modification will aid the government that the payments to employees are
paid in accordance to the employment laws. As a consequence of this the employer are now
mandate to pay in accordance to laws. This has ultimately helped the employees to not get exploited
by the cruel employers.
Moreover, the section 4 of the act provides that it is the right of every employee to ask for pay rolls
to their employers. It is irrelevant that whether they have worked for the given time period or not.
There are certain exceptions to this section as according to the provisions of Employment Rights
Act, 199814. The employers who are contractors, freelancer , merchant seaman, etc. are not liable to
fulfil such requirements of payment slips. The employee is entitled to take legal actions against the
employer in case of non payment of the pay rolls by the employer. The employee can also file
grievance and can too file a complaint in the tribunal in order to get justice.
2.Helena Bailey
Helena , the proprietor of Hot Stuff company. The staff of the company mainly belongs to
Muslim religion. The seasonal time period of the company is from March and May which is also the
festive time of Ramadan. The problem arises when the staff took leave due to Ramadan. As a result
of leaves in such a peak season of the business, the company suffered a very high lose. So, in order
to recover from this, Helena issued a policy for the employees which states that no employee is
eligible to take the leave during the peak season from March to May. As a consequence of this, the
Muslim employees made a union and threatened that 50% of the employee will go to strike next
month if this policy is not reversed.
13 'Your Right To Religious Freedom' (American Civil Liberties Union, 2022)
<https://www.aclu.org/other/your-right-religious-freedom> accessed 24 March 2022
14 'United Kingdom 2020 Archives' (Amnesty International, 2022)
<https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/europe-and-central-asia/united-kingdom/report-
united-kingdom/> accessed 24 March 2022

Legal issues:
 Whether the employees has the right to religion over the company's policies?
 Whether the employer can make such policies that hinders the right to religion of the
employee in such a festive season?
The first legal issue deals with the Right to religion. In Christian countries like UK, there are
no national holidays for non Christian festivals. The non Christian employees has to take annual
leaves in order to celebrate the festivals. In the given case scenario, maximum employees had
requested for such leave request and still the owner is not giving consideration to the requests. More
over, the employer must consider such requests as it is a religious right to celebrate the festival.
Further more, the provisions of Human Rights Act, 1998 of United Kingdom provides for the
right to religion15. Article 9 of this act specifies the right to freedom of thought process, religious
belief and conscience. This states that every person has the legal right to follow its own religion ,
thoughts and intellect. Moreover, it also states that any person can change its belief or religion at
any time irrespective to any pressure. Further more, the Equality Act, 2010 provides for no
discrimination on the basis of religion, caste , grace or gender. In this case, the employees are forced
to do work work on their festive days which is inhuman and discrimination on them. Hence, the
employees are liable to take the legal actions against the employer under the respective employment
laws of the country. Here, the employer is infringing the right of religious practices of the
employees. It is the duty of the employer to take care of the employees related to health and safety
during the working hours of the workers. The employer is bound by the general duty to take care of
the employees during the fasting season of Ramadan as working while fasting would be of great
impact on the health of the employees. Therefore, the employer must do flexible working hours and
working conditions while the fasting days of the month of Ramadan for its employees. The
employer should make policies in such a way that it will not hamper the employee from practising
their religion. The employer must give adequate and relevant leaves to the employees during their
festive season. The employer can grant leave alternatively to the Muslim employee so that the
employees would also enjoy their festival as well as the business will also not suffer loss.
In the case of JK Walker Ltd. v. Hussain and Others, the court held that the employees should be
given holidays in their festive season16. The employer should balance between the benefit of
15 'Freedom Of Religion - Wikipedia' (En.wikipedia.org, 2022)
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion> accessed 24 March 2022
16 'Right To Freedom Of Religion [Articles 25 - 28]: Indian Polity Notes For UPSC' (BYJUS,
2022) <https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/right-to-freedom-of-religion-articles-25-28/>

business and employees. Here, also Helena must give holiday to the employee . Helena should
make a policy that is relevant and practical for both the business and the employees. She can form a
policy in which she gives alternate days leave to the employees. So, that neither the religious rights
of the employee will get affected nor the business will suffer loss.
Conclusion
The above discussion concludes the importance of Human Rights Act and Equality Act. It is
very necessary to understand such acts otherwise the rights of common people will get violated.
From the first case study, it can be concluded that it is the basic right of every employee to receive
the salary slips from the employee. The employee has the right to take legal action against the
employer in the absence of such pay rolls. The second case study suggests that it is the basic right of
the employee to follow its belief and religion. The employee can take legal action against the
employer if its religious rights are violated.
accessed 24 March 2022

References
'Employment Rights Act 1996' (Legislation.gov.uk, 2022)
<https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/contents> accessed 24 March 2022
'Employment Rights Act 1996' (Legislation.gov.uk, 2022)
<https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/contents> accessed 24 March 2022
(2022) <https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-employment-law-an-introduction-to-employment-law.html>
accessed 24 March 2022
US Legal I, 'Employment Law Law And Legal Definition | Uslegal, Inc.' (Definitions.uslegal.com,
2022) <https://definitions.uslegal.com/e/employment-law/> accessed 24 March 2022
'Employment Status' (GOV.UK, 2022) <https://www.gov.uk/employment-status/employee>
accessed 24 March 2022
Phillips G, and Scott K, Employment Law (2021)
'Equality Act 2010: Guidance' (GOV.UK, 2022) <https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-
guidance> accessed 24 March 2022
'Legislation.Gov.Uk' (Legislation.gov.uk, 2022) <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/title/equality
%20act> accessed 24 March 2022
'Legislation.Gov.Uk' (Legislation.gov.uk, 2022) <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/title/equality
%20act> accessed 24 March 2022
'Employment Rights Act 1996' (Legislation.gov.uk, 2022)
<https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/contents> accessed 24 March 2022
'Your Right To Religious Freedom' (American Civil Liberties Union, 2022)
<https://www.aclu.org/other/your-right-religious-freedom> accessed 24 March 2022
'Freedom Of Religion - Wikipedia' (En.wikipedia.org, 2022)
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion> accessed 24 March 2022
'Right To Freedom Of Religion [Articles 25 - 28]: Indian Polity Notes For UPSC' (BYJUS, 2022)
<https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/right-to-freedom-of-religion-articles-25-28/> accessed
24 March 2022
'United Kingdom 2020 Archives' (Amnesty International, 2022)
<https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/europe-and-central-asia/united-kingdom/report-
united-kingdom/> accessed 24 March 2022
'Human Rights In The United Kingdom - Wikipedia' (En.wikipedia.org, 2020)
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_United_Kingdom> accessed 24
March 2022
'United Kingdom 2020 Archives' (Amnesty International, 2019)
<https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/europe-and-central-asia/united-kingdom/report-
united-kingdom/> accessed 24 March 2022
'Employment Law | CIPD' (CIPD, 2018) <https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/emp-
law> accessed 24 March 2022