Section 1 – Know the employment rights and responsibilities of the employee and employer

1. Identify four main points that would be included in a contract of employment. If possible, use an example contract to support your answer (feel free to obscure any confidential information).

Name of Employer & Employee This states who the contract is between
e.g. a contract between Boots & I would be Boots Group PLC & Employee Joe Bloggs, respectively.
Duties & Responsibility This states what tasks the employee can be held accountable for
e.g. making sales, operating tills, customer service & filling up stock to name a few as a cashier for Boots.
Hours of work This states what hours the employee is expected to work
e.g. 20 hours per week
Pay This states how much the employee will earn, per hour, per week or per month
e.g an hourly rate of £6.50.

2a) List three key points of legislation that affect employers in a business environment.

Equality & Diversity e.g. Equality Act 2010 helps increase the performance pool available to recruit from
Health & Safety e.g. Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 (& revision since) can help in preventing staff from injury & therefore taking time off work & so can cost the employer less money over time
Pay e.g. National Minimum Wage Act 1998 (& revisions since) affect the employer by having to increase remuneration of minimum waged employees.

2b) List three key points of legislation that affect employees in a business environment.

Holiday Entitlement e.g. The Working Time Regulations entitles employees specific paid leave & so giving the employee a chance to have a break from work without loss of earnings & therefore boosting moral.
Hours of Work e.g. there is legislation that limits night workers to work a maximum of 48 hours per week for 2 months to ensure that health & sleep patterns are not damaged or the risk of injury is not increased.
Maternity Leave e.g. there is legislation to provide employees time off work & protect the employee from unfair dismissal whilst pregnant. This is important for employees wishing to start a family or to spend time with their new born. 3. Identify a range of places where a person can find information on employment rights and responsibilities. You should identify at least two internal and two external sources of information.

Internal Sources Line Managers & Trade Union Representatives
External Sources Websites including Directgov.co.uk, hse.gov.uk & representative bodies including Citizens Advice Bureau

4. Describe how representative bodies can support employees.

Trade Union or Non-Trade Union representative bodies are predominantly organisations of workers who have bonded together to achieve a common goal such as protecting the integrity of its trade, achieving higher pay, increasing the number of employees an employer hires & improving working conditions. They provide impartial support, advice & conflict resolution.

They do this by bargaining with the employer on behalf of union members & negotiate contracts (collective bargaining) with employers. Specifically, such bodies can discuss any concerns employees have with their employer, accompany employees to any grievance or disciplinary hearings, can represent an employee in collective bargaining over pay, terms & conditions of employment, can work with the employer to try & resolve work place issues & find agreements & can encourage the employer to develop best practice in various work place issues such as health & safety.

5. Briefly describe employer and employee responsibilities for equality and diversity in a business environment. You should give at least two employer responsibilities and two employee responsibilities.

If possible, provide relevant equality and diversity procedures from your workplace (or place of study) to support your answer. These documents should be annotated to highlight the relevant sections.

To answer this question I have