Legislation affecting employment

Equal pay and minimum wage laws
The basic rule that a start-up business has to remember is that:
Men and women are entitled to equal pay for work of equal value
Looking at that rule in a little more detail:

“Pay” includes everything in the employment contract - bonuses and pension contributions, as well as basic wages or salary
Workers have the right to ask their employer for information to check equality – using the equal pay questionnaire
If employees believe their pay is unequal, they can take the employer to an Employment Tribunal
The right of employees to be paid at least the National Minimum Wage (NMW) is also protected by legislation. It makes no difference when a worker is paid (monthly, weekly, daily, hourly) - the NMW still applies.
The NMW is reviewed and usually changed every year. The current rates are shown here:

Discrimination
Discrimination is the treatment in an unacceptable way of anyone who is termed to be different. In the UK, it is illegal for an employer to discrimination against an employee on the basis of:

Sex, including pregnancy and maternity
Marital / civil partnership status
A person's disability
Race
Age
Sexual orientation
Religion/belief
Trade union membership or non-membership
Status as a fixed-term or part-time worker
Discrimination laws apply in many areas of employing staff - i.e.

Recruitment
Employee contract - terms and conditions
Promotions and transfers
Providing training
Deciding what fringe benefits employees receive
Employee dismissal
Employment rights
An employment right is something to which an employee is entitled which is protected by law. Laws provide a variety of “rights” for employees, including:

Reasonable notice before dismissal
Right to redundancy
Right to a written employment contract
Right to request flexible working
Right to be paid national minimum wage
Right to take time off for parenting
Health and safety
Health and safety is about preventing people from being