Employment Law in the UK is a veritable minefield for employers and is very often completely bewildering to their employees. Professional advice for both sides is vital to help businesses navigate through the complexities of employment law, which covers everything from employee contracts to maternity leave and flexible working, right though to health and safety issues. It is important to bear in mind when getting professional advice that most employment law solicitors are used to acting for either the employer or employee – and this can influence their views and approach to employment law issues. When choosing who to advise you, try to find out which “side” they are used to representing to ensure you get the best advice for your own situation.
As well as professional advice, employers can help themselves by ensuring they have up to date training in employment law to help them understand where they stand legally on all the tricky issues that could arise. There are many companies who offer advice and run special employment law training courses aimed specifically at employers. One of these companies is CLT – they utilise a variety of training methods, including seminars, webinars, in-house training and correspondence courses to make it as easy as possible for you to stay up-to-date.
It is equally important for employees to understand employment law so they know where they stand legally in case of an issue at work. Employment law sets out your rights as workers, detailing what you are entitled to in terms of holidays, maternity/paternity leave, through to issues like how much notice you have to give if you haven’t got a contract of employment. Although there are many resources available to assist employees with understanding their rights, from you local citizens advice bureau, to online resources possibly one of the first people you should consider contacting if you have an issue at work and want to check your rights is ACAS. ACAS is an independent, impartial advisory service that specializes in all aspects of workers rights and employment law and have a great deal of useful information available on their website.