Employment Relations and Law: A Case Study Analysis Report MOD003344

This report provides an analysis of employment law and relations, focusing on case studies within the UK legal framework. The report examines scenarios involving religious discrimination (turban wearing), maternity leave, and sick leave related to gender reassignment and depression. It references key legislation such as the Deregulation Bill 2015, Human Rights Act 1998, and Equality Act 2010 to evaluate the legality of company decisions and employee rights. The report highlights the importance of legal compliance, employee rights, and the impact of decisions on employee well-being and legal standing. The analysis covers topics such as the right to wear religious symbols in the workplace, the entitlement to maternity leave according to employment contracts, and the right to sick leave for both physical and mental health issues, including gender reassignment and depression. The report also discusses the legal implications of non-payment of wages during a lockdown period and references legislation like the Maternity Benefit Act 1961, offering a comprehensive overview of employment law in action.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Managing Employment Relations refers to the approaches which the organizations are
required to adopt which will help them a lot in ensuring that they are able to effectively and
efficiently manage a range of different types of needs and requirements in a proper manner.
Managing of this type of relations can be helpful in ensuring that the compliance can be
maintained with the laws, rules and regulations. This can help the organizations in ensuring
that their workers are managed properly. In this report, there will be a detailed discussion on
the different types of questions which are related with the wide range of Employment Law
which are important in the organizations.
In reply to Question 1
According to Deregulation Bill, 2015 new provision has been added which allows the
Sikhs to wear turbans in their workplace without any restrictions on them (Adam Cobb,
2016). This change has been brought to ensure that the loopholes in the earlier law are
cleared and more specific instructions and directions are available. This allows them to be
able to maintain their faith in their religion. Earlier, there was a loophole in the law in which
the Sikhs were not exempted from wearing their turban in construction sites where work is
done in hazardous environments. Thus, this has created a relaxation for the Sikhs which
enables them to be able to comply with the different needs and requirements of their faith.
However, it can be said that the changes which have been brought by OHF by not
allowing Kumar Singh to wear his turban at the workplace do not comply with the current
Employment legislation. The changes which have been brought by the company are not
according to the Deregulation Bill, 2015 which has created a provision for relaxation of the
rules. Thus, it is clear that OHF is not complying with the needs and requirements of the law
and thus this is impacting Kumar Singh and his religious beliefs. The company is required to
make sure that the following actions are taken in order to ensure legal compliance with
Deregulation Bill, 2015.Kumar Singh needs to be allowed to wear his turban because
allowing him will ensure that OHF is able to comply with the detailed rules and regulations
of the Deregulation Bill, 2015 and will thus make sure that the compliance with these rules
and regulations can be done in the right manner. The permission has to be extended to him
according to the legal provisions of this particular law (Almost and et.al., 2016).
As is stipulated in Human Rights Act 1998 Art.9 : Freedom of thought ,conscience and
religion “everyone has the right to freedom of thought ,conscience and religion; this right
includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community

with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching,
practice and observance” .
Further, the company needs to ensure that the provisions of the Deregulation Bill,
2015 are complied with and in this way, it will be able to ensure that the employees are able
to exercise their rights. It needs to make sure that the employee rights which are mentioned as
a part of the bill and the change which has been brought due to the provisions can be
implemented within the company.
According to the UK legislation, it is stated that Maternity leave is allowed to female
employees when it is stated in their contract. In this way it can be said that the female
employees are not allowed Maternity Leave if the company or the organisation for which
they work for has not stated it clearly in the contract that they will be allowed Maternity
Leave.
In accordance to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 the women in the country have been
provided with a right to take Maternity Leave as required by them. Thus, this act ensures that
the women in the country are able to take the maternity leave as and when required by them
which will be quite helpful for them to be able to take the right rest during pregnancy.
In OHF, an employee named Chloe Chan is pregnant and thus wants to take maternity
leave. However, Maternity leave has not been stated on her contract. She has been told by the
company that she will not be allowed any Maternity Leave and needs to take annual leave.
OHF is thus right in order to refuse Chloe Chan on her maternity leave because there
has been no mention about the same in the contract which she has signed with the company.
According to the UK law, agency and other workers can be refused Maternity Leave if
it has not been stated in their contracts which they have done with the company (Armstrong
and Taylor, 2020). The changes brought by the company are compliant with the current
employment legislation. Therefore, there are no specific steps which are required to be taken
by the company to ensure legal compliance with the law. As the company has stated quite
clearly in the contract that the female employees will not be allowed maternity leave and will
have to take annual leave instead, they are not required to take such a leave.
According to the UK Employment Legislation, there are no specific guidelines for the
organisations that they are required to pay the wages and salaries. The companies which
closed during the COVID-19 pandemic were not given any kind of compulsion by the
government in order to pay wages and salaries to their staff members during the lockdown.
The Equality Act, 2010 states that there must be no differentiation between the people with
regards to the payment of the salaries and wages to them. This helps in ensuring that the
salaries and wages can be paid in the right manner to the people.

Therefore, it can be said that the decision made by OHF to not pay its staff during the period
of lockdown is compliant with the legal rules and regulations of UK because they the
COVID-19 guidelines specified by the government do not provide any specific instructions
for the purpose of ensuring that they are paid their wages and salaries during this particular
period (Barley, Bechky and Milliken, 2017).
There was a particular impact created by the employees due to the non-payment of
wages and salaries during the lockdown (Becker and Tews, 2016). However, for the
protection of the workers the UK Government has announced that it will pay 2/3rd of their
wages during the lockdown. These wages will be paid to those workers whose companies
were forced to close down during the period of lockdown in U.K.
Thus, It can be said that both Kumar Singh and Chloe Chan who are the employees of
OHF have certain rights and therefore it is quite important for the management to look upon
these particular rights which will enable it to be able to ensure that the legal point of view can
be considered and thus the appropriate actions can be taken in a right manner so that the
employees are able to legally avail their rights.
Also as per the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 it is quite important that the benefit of
maternity leave is made available to the female employees. Therefore, In this way it can be
said that Chloe Chan is absolutely right to claim Maternity Leave.
In reply to Question 2
Based on the Equality Act, 2010 it has been clearly stated that if there is a need to take
time off by an employee due to Gender Reproject then they have a right to claim Sick Leave.
Thus, in this way the employers cannot discriminate against employees if they have been
absent due to sickness or injury (Birtch, Chiang and Van Esch, 2016).
There can be no differentiation between the employees in availing their Sick Leave.
Therefore, it is quite important that the sections of the Equality Act can be applied in a right
manner which will be quite helpful in ensuring that the Sick Leave can be given to the
employees which will help in ensuring that the treatment of the workers is done properly so
that they can avail the benefit of leave for GR. This will be helpful particularly for those
employees who want to avail leave for GR.
The Act provides employees all the rights to take sick leaves on the basis of any physical or
mental health condition which they are facing and thus it states that there cannot be any kind
of legal discrimination against them, provided optimum protection to the different employees
regarding the discrimination which they may face from the companies regarding the sick
leaves.
The law clearly states that an employee is protected against discrimination if he/she
wants time off because of undertaking Gender Reproject . The organisations cannot
discriminate against the employees when they take these particular leaves because they are to
be given leaves irrespective of the physical or mental health issue which they are facing.The
employer is bound to give sick leave to the employee for undertaking Gender Reproject .

There is no legal ground for OHF to refuse leaves to Zak in such a case because it is
permissible as per the law (Cooke and et.al., 2019).
Thus, Zak Benson is absolutely right to claim Sick Leave for Gender Reproject
because it is covered under the provisions of the law. Therefore, the decision of Mr Khoo to
dismiss the sick leave of Zak Benson is wrong because he is legally entitled to take this
particular leave (Ismail and Gali, 2017).
According to the law, mental health issues like depression are considered to have the
same impact as the physical illness. However, according to the law of U.K., the mental health
issues have the same impact as physical illness and mean that the person who are facing these
issues is not fit for work. Thus, it is rightful Zak Benson to claim sick leave for facing the
issue of depression.
The decision of OHF to refuse leave to him on the ground of depression is not fair and
thus he can claim it as his matter of right. The company has no legal grounds on which they
are refusing leaves to Zak Benson. This is so because as per the law of the country they have
to give leaves to an employee for both physical health issues as well as mental health issues.
Therefore, the decision made by Mr Khoo to not grant him leave for depression is not right as
the employees are entitled to take leaves as a matter of their right irrespective of the health
issue which is being faced by them.
According to the law, the following are the rules related to Sick Leave and these are the right
of the employees regarding it: Employees can take time off if they feel ill and thus cannot
report for work (Jacobs, Yu and Chavez, 2016). However, they are required to submit proof
to the employers if they are taking an off for more than 7 days.
Employees are required to give prior information to their employers before taking a Sick
Leave so that they are able to make sure that their organisation is informed when they are
taking a leave.
As per the provisions of the law, the following are the legal employment rights of the
employees regarding leaves.
Eligible female employees can get paid maternity leave from their organisation for which
they work for which can help them in ensuring that they can take the best care of their child.
Further, Eligible male employees are eligible to get paid paternity leave from their
organisation for which they work for which can help them in ensuring that they can take the
best care of their child.
Employees are given rights to take sick leave. This can help in ensuring that they can take
best care of themselves when they fall ill.
Compassionate leave is also given to the employees which helps them in taking care of their
dependants.

Annual Leave is available for the employees as under the law they have to be given a certain
number of paid holidays which they are eligible to take every year according to their own
needs and requirements.
As per the employment rights of Zak, he is absolutely right to claim sick leave for Gender
Reproject and Depression because these are part of the rights of the employees and OHF has
no right to refuse him on the subject of these leaves. The organisation holds no right and legal
ground for refusing leave for the reasons which have been given by Zak. Therefore, it is
essential for the employees that they can claim these leaves.
In reply to Question 3
The Government of U.K. has proposed certain changes to be made to the National Minimum
Wage Rates which have been implemented from April 2021. The revision will be in
accordance with the rules and regulations because this affects the salaries and wages which
hare required to be paid to the different types of employees. Therefore, in this way it can be
said that these type of rules and regulations will create an overall impact on the workers as
their wages and salaries will increase. These changes can ensure that the increase in wage
rates allows the workers to be able to display their higher-level of efficiency, effectiveness
and productivity (Jiang, Gollan and Brooks, 2017). Most of these changes will focus on
increasing the wage rates of the workers so that they are able to get more wages for the work
which they are doing which will help them in getting more benefit. These changes are in the
benefit of the employees because it focuses on enhancing the wage rates which have been
prevalent in the country since the last few years. According to the provisions of the law, the
following are the wage rates for the different age groups which are to be followed in the
companies-
 Apprentices are eligible for receiving apprentice rate if they are less than 19 years old
and if they are 19 years old and above in the first year of their apprenticeship.
 Workers under the age of 18 will receive a wage rate of 4.55 pounds.
 Workers within the age of 18-20 will also receive a wage rate of 6.45 pounds.
 Workers within the age of 21-24 will receive a wage rate of 8.20 pounds.
 Workers in the age bracket of 25 and over will receive a wage rate of 8.72 pounds.
The rates which have been determined by OHF are as follows-
 Apprentices will not be receiving any wages during their training period.
 The wage rate for 16-17 years will be 1.80 pounds
 The wage rate for 21-24 years will be 8.90 pounds
 Zero-Hour Staff will not get the NMW rates.
However, on the basis of the above comparison it can be stated that OHF is not complying
with the legal rules and regulations regarding the payment to be made to the apprentices
during their training period (Lee and Ok, 2016). This is so because as per the law it has been

determined that the apprentices are required to be paid a certain wage rate for working during
their training period in the company and OHF has determined that the apprentices will not be
paid any wages during their training period. It can be said that the company is not complying
with the legal rules and regulations in this case here.
The wage rate determined by the company for the workers under the age of 18 is 1.80
pounds. This is lower than the rate which has been determined by the government which is
4.55 pounds.
The wage rate determined by the company for the workers in the age group of 21-24
is 8.90 pounds. This is higher than the rate which has been determined by the government
which is 8.20 pounds. Therefore, the company is complying with the legal rules and
regulations of the government by proposing to pay higher amount of wages. In this case, it
can be said that the compliance of the organisation with the legal rules and requirements is
present.
The U.K. Government has to implement Dependent Contractor IR 35 status from
April 2021. This will be one of the biggest tax reforms carried out in the country for decades.
By implementing this particular status, the various types of companies can make sure that
they are able to bring the desired changes in their own status. This is going to create an
impact on the contracts which are done with Zero-Hour Workers.
The Zero-Hour Workers will be entitled to get statutory annual pay and national
minimum wage rate like the regular workers. Also, they will be entitled to get holiday pay
like sick pay and annual leave also. Thus, it can be said that the Zero-Hour workers are going
to be benefited because of this reason. They will be able to get benefits like the regular
workers.
It has been found out that OHF is not complying with certain needs and requirements
of the UK NWR (Litano and Major, 2016). This has been so because there has been a
difference between the wage rates determined by the government in NWR and the wage rates
determined by the company for its different types of workers. The recommendations for the
company for this purpose are as follows: The wage rates for the apprentices have to be given
and therefore it is required that the apprentices should be given an opportunity to be able to
learn and adjust. However, OHF is recommended to change its policy to provide payment to
the apprentices during their training period.
The wage rates for the workers under the age of 18 is very less than the rates which have
been determined by the government. Therefore, OHF is recommended to make sure that it
can bring changes to its policy which will enable it to be able to ensure that it can pay the
right wages to these workers which will help in deriving a higher-level of efficiency,
effectiveness and productivity from them.
Thus, if the management of OHF is able to comply with these particular needs and
requirements then it will be able to make sure that it is able to legally comply with the
government's legal rules and regulations in the right manner. Further, this can be quite helpful

for the company in order to be able to ensure that it is legally complying with the different
types of laws.
There have been multiple cases where the workers have not been paid appropriate
amount of wages as per the NWR rates. Therefore, it is quite important from the point of
view of the management that the implementation of the NWR rates can be done so that the
motivation level of the staff members can be enhanced.
In reply to Question 4
Under Equality Act 2010 section 10, subsection 3 were said in relation to the protected
characteristic of religion or belief, free to express the beliefs, so Mr. Khoo decision is
unlawful and is impacting the right of employees by express the religious believes.
The law of U.K. states that employers should be flexible in their approach and must allow
the different types of employees a certain level of freedom in deciding to wear what they
want (Rudolph and et.al., 2017). The employers cannot put restrictions on what the
employees should wear except a few exceptional conditions. The level of flexibility provided
by the employers should be given until there is a direct interference with the ability of the
employees to be able to carry out their duties in an effective manner. However, the new law
states that the employers should be more tolerant towards their employees and must ensure
that the employees are provided a certain level of freedom in deciding what they should wear.
OHF has decided to prohibit its staff from wearing religious wear or jewellery which
represents their religion. However, according to the laws of U.K. It can be said that the
implementation of this particular rule cannot be done. This is so because of the following
reasons: OHF is a company which is located in U.K. and therefore has to make sure that it
follows the various types of rules and regulations related with the laws of the country.
Therefore, in this way it can be said that for the company it is required that it uses a flexible
approach and is able to allow its staff members a certain level of freedom in determining
what they want to war.
OHF cannot interfere with the independence which the employees have to wear whatever
they want. Thus, in this way it can be said that this level of independence can help the
employees to be able to choose their religious dresses and make sure that they are able to
exercise their particular level of freedom in the right manner.
The rules and regulations of OHF cannot be implemented because it will interfere with the
personal rights of the different employees.
However, there are also certain conditions under which the employers can prohibit employees
from wearing religious wear.

These conditions are explained as follows: When the religious wear of the employees is not
according to the policy of the company and thus can create an impact on the views of the
other employees thereby hurting their feelings (Stoeber and Damian, 2016).
When there is a proper dress code which has been set in the company for being followed the
wearing of religious dress or jewellery by the employees can lead towards religious
discrimination which can hurt the ethical policies of the company.In this way the views of the
different types of employees can be impacted (Wirtz and Jerger, 2016).
The advice to the management of the company is that the following additions should be made
to the employee handbook: The employees must be given a certain level of freedom in
ensuring that they are able to exercise their views freely. This will help in ensuring that the
workers are able to wear religious dresses or jewellery at the workplace and allowing a
certain degree of independence to the employees.
The employees should also be advised to make sure that they should not hurt the religious
views of other employees while wearing religious wear and jewellery. This will help the
company in ensuring that the workers are free from facing any kind of religious
discrimination.
Making such additions to the handbook will be quite helpful in ensuring that the employees
are given a certain level of freedom and independence to wear clothes of their choice.
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Online :
Equality ACT 2010 section 10 subsection 3
Available at:<https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/10>>[Accessed 15
March 2021].