Describe the employment law

Employment legislation has been enacted over the years to ensure equally fair employment treatment for all workers by all employers. In the absence of legally enforceable employment conditions, employers would be free to exploit their employees. Protection of the interests of employees is, therefore, at the heart of employment law.
The basis of the legal relationship of an organisation and its employees is that of a contract (a voluntary agreement into which employer and employee freely enter under the terms of common law). Both sides have a duty to behave reasonably and responsibly: employers should issue reasonable instructions and employees should give faithful and honest service. Common law has, however, been considerably extended by statute law and there are now a very large number of separate pieces of legislation which make up this field. It is not our intention to go into detail about any of them here, but we shall note the major areas in which legislation has been enacted.
Disputes under employment law are generally dealt with at employment tribunals. These
tribunals were set up to enable easier and cheaper access to the law for individual workers than would be available through the courts.
(a) Contracts of employment
These are the basis of the agreement between an employee and employer as to the terms and conditions under which the employee is employed. Essentially the contract
will state the way in which, in return for specified forms of remuneration, holidays, etc., the employee undertakes to work for an employer during specified hours and exercise specified duties and responsibilities.
(b) Workers' rights
Legislation provides for a large number of rights on the part of employees, including the following. Rights in respect of the payment of wages and salaries, including the payment of a minimum wage as determined by the government.
The right not to be dismissed unfairly or wrongly Entitlement to a minimum period of paid leave for the purposes of holidays, in addition to public holidays Entitlement to paid leave for women during maternity and the right to reinstatement after the birth of a child, and entitlements to time off for parents following the birth.
Entitlements in respect of the way in which loss of employment through redundancy is handled, including the right to particular periods of notice and the receipt of certain levels of redundancy pay in compensation for the length of service.
The right to join a trade union of the worker's choice (and also not to be compelled to do so).
(c) Discrimination
There are specific laws against any form of discrimination at work on the grounds of sex or marital status, colour, race, nationality or national or ethnic origins, disability and sexual orientation. These relate to pay, recruitment and selection, the provision of opportunities for training, development and advancement through promotion, and access to the benefits of and facilities at work.
Discrimination can be indirect as well as direct, so the law applies not just to the actions which employers do take, but also to the actions they omit taking. It also forbids the specification of unnecessary conditions which certain groups are not able, or are unlikely, to meet.
In the case of disability, organisations are required to take reasonable steps to adjust the working environment to enable disabled people to have equal opportunities for employment, which may mean the physical alteration of premises and the re- arrangement of jobs.
(d) Health and Safety
The main legislation here is the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Its objectives are as follows: Securing the health, safety and welfare of people at work
Protecting others against risks to health or safety owing to activities of persons at work
Controlling the use, storage and acquisition of explosive, highly inflammable or dangerous substances Controlling certain emissions into the atmosphere A Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety Executive responsible to specified Ministers
(usually the Secretary of State for Employment) were established to administer the Act.
The legislation was drafted to enable new regulations to be introduced as and when required, and provisions in respect of specific dangers and problems are constantly being added. This is an area where there have also been a number of European Union directives.

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Titany answered the question on November 9, 2021 at 05:27