Additional Information
Book Details
Abstract
Women’s Rights at Work is a comprehensive guide that begins with the point when a woman finds work right through to the end when she finishes a job through
dismissal or resignation. Starting from the premise that, while rights at work affect
all workers, there are many issues that affect women workers in very specific ways. Topics covered include unfair dismissal, discrimination, harassment, maternity rights, and health and safety in the workplace. A solicitor specialising in women’s
employment rights, Alison Clarke demystifies the subject and provides an up-to-date reference guide to employment law for the non-specialist. Free from legalistic jargon, this book explains any unfamiliar terms in detail in order to make the law accessible to all women who want to assert their rights in the workplace.
This handbook provides guidance on what to do if your employer:
• Asks discriminatory questions at an interview
• Changes your contract without consultation
• Pays you less than a man doing the same job
• Dismisses you because you are pregnant
• Discriminates against you because you work part-time
• Makes you redundant because you were one of the last to be hired
• Refuses to give you a reference
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acknowledgements | iv | ||
| Contents | vii | ||
| List of Abbreviations | x | ||
| Introduction | 1 | ||
| 1. Finding a Job | 5 | ||
| 2. Getting Started | 26 | ||
| The Contract of Employment | 26 | ||
| What is it? | 26 | ||
| What are the Express Terms of the Contract? | 27 | ||
| What are the Implied Terms of the Contract? | 27 | ||
| What are the Implied Terms which Place Obligations on the Employer? | 28 | ||
| What are the Implied Terms which Place Obligations on the Employee? | 29 | ||
| Is Custom and Practice an Implied Term? | 29 | ||
| What about Terms which Become Incorporated? | 29 | ||
| Are there any Terms which are Imposed by Legislation? | 30 | ||
| 3. Equality in the Workplace | 39 | ||
| Equal Pay | 40 | ||
| What is the Relevant Legislation? | 40 | ||
| What is the EOC Code of Practice? | 40 | ||
| How does the Equal Pay Act Work? | 41 | ||
| Who Can You Have as Your Comparator? | 41 | ||
| Who is Entitled to Claim and what Can Be Claimed? | 42 | ||
| How Long Can you Backdate your Claim for? | 42 | ||
| What does the Concept of ‚Like Work™ Mean? | 42 | ||
| What does the Concept of ‚Work Rated as Equivalent™ Mean? | 43 | ||
| What is an Analytical JES? | 44 | ||
| Is your Case Scuppered if you Score Less Points than a Man under a JES? | 44 | ||
| What does the Concept of ‚Equal Value™ Mean? | 44 | ||
| What Procedure do you Have to Follow in an Equal Value Claim? | 45 | ||
| What is a Material Factor Defence? | 45 | ||
| What does the Employer Have to Prove? | 46 | ||
| When does the Employer Have to Justify Objectively the Difference in Pay? | 46 | ||
| Discrimination in Pay Systems | 47 | ||
| What about Seniority and Service- related Benefits? | 47 | ||
| What about Bonuses and Performance- related Pay? | 48 | ||
| What about Overtime and Shift Premiums? | 48 | ||
| Maternity Rights | 48 | ||
| What Statutory Protection is there? | 48 | ||
| What Maternity Rights do Women Have? | 49 | ||
| What does a Woman Have to Tell her Employer and When? | 49 | ||
| When Can a Woman Start her Maternity Leave? | 50 | ||
| What about Women with at Least One Year™s Service? | 50 | ||
| What Rights do Women Have on Return to Work after Additional Leave? | 51 | ||
| What Happens if the Woman does Not Comply with the Notice Requirements? | 52 | ||
| What Happens to Holidays during Maternity Leave? | 52 | ||
| Who Has the Right to Statutory Maternity Pay? | 52 | ||
| What do you Receive under SMP? | 53 | ||
| What Happens if you do Not Return to Work? | 53 | ||
| Who Has the Right to Maternity Allowance? | 53 | ||
| What Happens to your Occupational Pension? | 54 | ||
| What about a Right to Time Off for Ante- natal Care? | 54 | ||
| What about Time Off for Fertility Treatment? | 54 | ||
| What General Health and Safety Rules Apply? | 54 | ||
| Are there Any Health and Safety Rules for the Protection of Women? | 55 | ||
| What if your Employer does Not Carry Out an Adequate Assessment? | 55 | ||
| Are there Any Health and Safety Rules Relating to Breastfeeding? | 56 | ||
| What about Dismissal/ Selection for Redundancy? | 56 | ||
| Part- time Workers | 57 | ||
| Do you Have a Legal Right to Work Part Time? | 57 | ||
| What Protection do the Part- Time Workers Regulations Provide? | 57 | ||
| Who Can the Part- timer Compare Herself With? | 58 | ||
| What are the Principles Underlying the Regulations? | 58 | ||
| What Protection do the SDA and EqPA Provide? | 59 | ||
| How do the Regulations Improve on Existing Legislation? | 60 | ||
| What about Time Limits for Bringing a Claim? | 60 | ||
| Job Sharers | 61 | ||
| Sex and Race Discrimination | 61 | ||
| What is Direct Discrimination under the SDA and RRA? | 61 | ||
| Who does the Woman Compare herself with? | 62 | ||
| Was the Woman Treated Less Favourably because of her Sex/ Race? | 62 | ||
| Whom Can you Bring a Claim against? | 63 | ||
| What Defences Can Employers Use? | 64 | ||
| What is Indirect Discrimination? | 65 | ||
| What Constitutes a Requirement or Condition? | 65 | ||
| Is there a Disproportionate Impact on Women? | 66 | ||
| How do you Get the Information you Need? | 67 | ||
| How do you Work Out the Proportions? | 67 | ||
| Has the Woman Suffered a Disadvantage because she Cannot Comply with the Requirement? | 69 | ||
| Can the Employer Justify the Requirement or Condition? | 69 | ||
| What Arguments by the Employer are Likely to Succeed? | 70 | ||
| How do the Victimisation Provisions Work? | 70 | ||
| How do the Victimisation Provisions Operate? | 70 | ||
| Is Post- employment Victimisation Lawful? | 71 | ||
| Do you Have to Have Direct Evidence of Discrimination to Prove your Case? | 72 | ||
| 4. Conduct and Rights at Work | 92 | ||
| Contract of Employment | 92 | ||
| Can your Employer Vary your Contract? | 92 | ||
| Does your Contract Stipulate a Notice Period? | 94 | ||
| Deductions from Wages | 94 | ||
| Who Can Claim? | 94 | ||
| When Can an Employer Make a Deduction? | 95 | ||
| What are Wages? | 95 | ||
| What are Deductions as Far as the Law is Concerned? | 96 | ||
| What Deductions are Excluded from the Employment Rights Act? | 97 | ||
| What Happens if your Employer Overpays you? | 98 | ||
| National Minimum Wage Act 1998 | 98 | ||
| Who is Covered? | 98 | ||
| How is it Calculated? | 99 | ||
| What about Overtime Payments? | 99 | ||
| How do you Work Out your Gross Salary? | 99 | ||
| How Many Hours Have you Worked? | 100 | ||
| What Type of Work do you Do ΠIs it Time Work? | 101 | ||
| What Type of Work do you Do ΠIs it Salaried Hours Work? | 102 | ||
| What Type of Work do you Do ΠIs it Output Work? | 102 | ||
| What Type of Work do you Do ΠIs it Unmeasured Work? | 104 | ||
| How do you Get Hold of Information you May Need? | 104 | ||
| What Can you Do if your Employer Refuses to Pay you the Proper Rate? | 105 | ||
| What do you Do if your Employer Takes Action against you? | 105 | ||
| Trade Union Rights | 105 | ||
| Do Trade Unions Have a Statutory Right of Recognition? | 105 | ||
| What about an Individual Right to Representation? | 106 | ||
| Can your Employer Dismiss you for your Trade Union Activities? | 106 | ||
| What is Interim Relief? | 106 | ||
| Can your Employer Take Action Short of Dismissal against you? | 107 | ||
| What Can you Do if you are Refused a Job on Union Grounds? | 107 | ||
| What Time Off are you Entitled to for Trade Union Duties and Activities? | 108 | ||
| What Constitutes Trade Union Duties? | 108 | ||
| What about Time Off for Training for Union Officials? | 109 | ||
| What Constitutes Trade Union Activities? | 109 | ||
| What Constitutes a Reasonable Amount of Time Off? | 110 | ||
| What about Payment for Time Off? | 111 | ||
| What Can you Do if your Employer Refuses to Give you the Time Off? | 112 | ||
| Other Public Duties | 112 | ||
| Are you Entitled to Time Off for Public and Other Duties? | 112 | ||
| How Much Time Off are you Entitled to? | 113 | ||
| What Can you Do if your Employer Refuses the Time Off? | 113 | ||
| How do Tribunals Decide what is Reasonable? | 113 | ||
| 5. Health and Safety at Work | 136 | ||
| The Common Law | 136 | ||
| What is your Employer™s Duty to you under the Common Law? | 137 | ||
| Can you Sue your Employer under the Common Law? | 137 | ||
| Domestic Legislation | 137 | ||
| What are the Obligations on Employers under the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974? | 137 | ||
| What are the Obligations on Employees under the Health and Safety At Work Act? | 138 | ||
| European Legislation | 138 | ||
| The Management of Health and Safety At Work Regulations 1992 | 138 | ||
| The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 | 140 | ||
| Personal Protective Equipment At Work Regulations 1992 | 142 | ||
| Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1992 | 143 | ||
| Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 | 143 | ||
| Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 | 144 | ||
| Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 1994 | 145 | ||
| Working Time Regulations | 146 | ||
| Who is Covered by the Regulations? | 146 | ||
| How do you Know if you are Excluded or Included? | 146 | ||
| How is Working Time Defined under the Regulations? | 146 | ||
| What are Workforce Agreements? | 147 | ||
| What do the Regulations Say about How Long you Can Work Each Week? | 147 | ||
| Are there Exceptions to the Limit? | 148 | ||
| Can you Ignore the Weekly Maximum Limit? | 148 | ||
| What Happens if you Have More than One Job? | 148 | ||
| What Records does the Employer Have to Keep? | 148 | ||
| How do you Work Out your Average Weekly Working Time? | 149 | ||
| Are there Similar Restrictions for Night Work? | 149 | ||
| Can these Restrictions Be Removed? | 150 | ||
| What is the Definition of a Night Worker? | 150 | ||
| What is Compensatory Rest? | 151 | ||
| How do you Calculate the Number of Hours Worked at Night? | 151 | ||
| What Records does your Employer Have to Keep? | 152 | ||
| Do Employers Have to Provide Free Health Assessments for Night Workers? | 152 | ||
| How Much Daily Rest is a Worker Entitled to? | 153 | ||
| How Much Weekly Rest is a Worker Entitled to? | 153 | ||
| How Much of a Rest Break is a Worker Entitled to? | 154 | ||
| What Annual Leave is the Worker Entitled to? | 154 | ||
| When do you Start to Accrue Holiday Entitlement? | 154 | ||
| When does the Leave Year Start? | 155 | ||
| What Pay are you Entitled to? | 155 | ||
| Can Statutory Holiday Entitlement Be Carried Over? | 155 | ||
| What Notice do you Have to Give? | 155 | ||
| How do you Enforce your Rights under the Working Time Regulations? | 156 | ||
| What Happens if your Employer Discriminates against you? | 156 | ||
| What Happens if your Employer Dismisses you? | 157 | ||
| 6. Dismissal | 169 | ||
| 7. Post-employment Problems | 196 | ||
| Claims and Representation | 196 | ||
| What Claims Can Be Heard by Tribunals? | 196 | ||
| Do you Need Someone to Represent you? | 196 | ||
| Making a Claim | 197 | ||
| Does your Employer Have an Internal Procedure? | 197 | ||
| What Time Limits do you Need to Be Aware of? | 198 | ||
| How do you Know when Time Starts to Run? | 199 | ||
| What is the Difference Between Continuous Discrimination and a Single Act? | 200 | ||
| Can you Make a Claim Out of Time? | 200 | ||
| What Complaint/ s do you Want to Make? | 201 | ||
| Can you Ask Why you Have Been Dismissed? | 201 | ||
| Will you Need Other Documentation? | 201 | ||
| What Basic Information do you Need to Put on the Application Form? | 202 | ||
| What Other Information do you Need to Put on the Application Form? | 202 | ||
| Where do you Lodge the Application Form? | 202 | ||
| Are you Allowed to Amend your ET1? | 202 | ||
| What Happens Once you Send in your Application Form? | 203 | ||
| What is the Questionnaire Procedure? | 203 | ||
| When Should you Send the Questionnaire? | 204 | ||
| Does your Employer Have to Reply to the Questionnaire? | 204 | ||
| What Questions Should you Ask? | 204 | ||
| What are Further and Better Particulars of the ET3? | 205 | ||
| What are Interrogatories? | 206 | ||
| How do you Get Hold of Documents that you Need? | 206 | ||
| Can you Bring Witnesses? | 206 | ||
| Will you Need Witness Statements? | 207 | ||
| Do you Need an Agreed Bundle of Documents? | 207 | ||
| What is a Pre- trial Directions Hearing/ Interlocutory Hearing? | 208 | ||
| What is a Preliminary Hearing? | 208 | ||
| What is a Pre- hearing Review? | 208 | ||
| What Role does the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) Play? | 208 | ||
| What about Costs and Legal Aid? | 209 | ||
| At the Hearing | 209 | ||
| Will there Be Publicity? | 209 | ||
| What is the Order of Events? | 209 | ||
| What is the Standard of Proof? | 210 | ||
| Can you Appeal Against the Decision of a Tribunal? | 210 | ||
| Remedies and Compensation | 211 | ||
| Should you Settle the Claim with the Help of ACAS? | 211 | ||
| What is a Compromise Agreement? | 211 | ||
| What Compensation are you Entitled to for Unfair Dismissal? | 212 | ||
| Can you Claim your Pay for the Notice Period? | 213 | ||
| What Compensation are you Entitled to for Redundancy? | 213 | ||
| What Compensation are you Entitled to for Discrimination? | 214 | ||
| What Compensation are you Entitled to for a Reason Related to Pregnancy? | 214 | ||
| What Compensation are you Entitled to in an Equal Pay Claim? | 215 | ||
| What are the Consequences if you Fail to Mitigate your Loss? | 215 | ||
| 8. General | 216 | ||
| Useful Addresses | 216 | ||
| Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) | 216 | ||
| Employment Tribunals | 216 | ||
| Commission for Racial Equality | 217 | ||
| Disability Rights Commission | 217 | ||
| Equal Opportunities Commission | 217 | ||
| Health and Safety Executive | 217 | ||
| Incomes Data Services | 218 | ||
| Industrial Relations Services | 218 | ||
| Maternity Alliance | 218 | ||
| New Ways to Work | 218 | ||
| Rights of Women | 218 | ||
| Trades Union Congress | 218 | ||
| References | 219 | ||
| Table of Cases | 219 | ||
| Table of Statutes | 223 | ||
| Table of Regulations | 224 | ||
| Index | 225 | ||
| ACAS [Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service] | 208 | ||
| 208 | 208 | ||
| 211 | 211 | ||
| Accident Legal Advice Service 159 | 159 | ||
| adverse inference | 18 |