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).

• Names of the Parties – The employers name/organisation name and the employers name
• Employment Contract Start Date
• Employee's Job Title and Description
• Place of work

2.

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

Employment law
• Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
• Equal Pay Act 1970
• Sex Discrimination Act 1970
• Race Relations Act 1975
• Employment Protection Act 1978

Consumer protection
• Sale and Supply of Goods Act
• Trade Description Act
• Consumer Credit Act
Competition law
• Competition Commission (CC)
• Office of Fair Trading (OFT)
b) List three key points of legislation that affect employees in a business environment.
• Pension
• Pay
• Employment rights and responsibilities

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
• Personnel specialists
• Specialised colleagues
• Staff association representatives and trade union representatives
External sources
• Citizens Advice Bureaux
• ACAS
• Legal professionals
• Educational establishments
• Educational courses
• Trade unions
• Chambers of commerce
• Employer/industry organisations
• Government
• The Equality and Human Rights Commission
• Libraries

4. Describe how representative bodies can support employees.

The best known example of representative bodies is in the form of Trade Unions. Different types of union representatives have different needs
The role and responsibilities of union representatives can vary quite considerably between types of workplaces and sectors and between the different types of representatives.
• Negotiations
• They represent the interests of their members
• They can offer assistance and regional and national expertise.
• Union representatives can support employees with information related to health and safety, European consultative bodies, pensions, workforce agreement, collective redundancy, Union learning, collective bargaining, transfer of undertakings and information and consultation representation.

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.

‘’Equality and diversity exist to ensure an inclusive workplace, one where ‘difference’ is never an obstacle to getting a job or progressing in your career.
In the UK, practises and procedures are in place to ensure all workers are treated equally and given the same opportunities regardless of their age, race, sexuality, gender, disability or culture – or indeed anything else that could be discriminated against’’ 1

Employer’s responsibilities for equality and diversity: • Train staff on equality and diversity topics;
• Develop policies and procedures to address equality and diversity issues
• Ensure that line managers appreciate diversity and promote fair treatment

Employee’s responsibilities for equality and diversity

• Being aware of the judgements he/she makes;
• Avoiding ‘labelling’ people;
• Recognise differences of opinion;
• Treat people with respect;
• Being willing to learn about people that might be or might seem ‘different’
• Always focusing on the positive attributes in people.

Equality and diversity in the workplace can