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Whether you work part time after school, have a temporary summer job or are supporting yourself with full time employment, you have rights which make sure you are treated fairly by your employer. They also make sure you don’t get ripped off in terms of pay and holidays. So what do you want to know about? If you ask for a copy of your employment agreement, your employer must give it to you. It is always a good idea to have a copy in case you have a disagreement with your employer later. Even if you don’t have a written
employment agreement, there are rights you must always have in your job,
e.g. holiday entitlement, minimum pay and fair treatment. An individual employment agreement is a contract between one employer and one employee. It must be in writing. An individual employment agreement can be renegotiated and changed at any time as long as both sides agree. It must include an effective procedure for settling personal grievances and disputes. It should not include an expiry date unless it is a fix-termed agreement but it can have a review date where the terms and conditions are reviewed. A collective employment agreement is a contract between one or more employers and two or more employees. It must be in writing and can be varied at any time if both sides agree, and then all variations must be written down. It must include effective procedures for settling personal grievances and disputes and it must have an expiry date. The type of employment agreement which is best for you will depend on your situation and the individual workplace. Individual employment agreements allow you to negotiate conditions that suit you personally but depend on you being in a position to bargain equally with your employer. Collective employment agreements are negotiated between your union and employer, which means you don't have to bargain directly with your employer and often allow you to negotiate better terms and conditions because you are bargaining as a group. What
are my basic employment rights?
You’re entitled to:
What
obligations does my employer have?
What
are my obligations as an employee? What’s
the minimum I can get paid? You can negotiate with your employer for more though. Make sure you sort out with your employer whether you’ll be paid a different rate for overtime (e.g. time and a half or double time) and if so, when that rate will apply. This can be very important if you don’t work set hours. Employers aren’t legally obliged to pay you overtime so you need to discuss this. How
often will I get paid? Your employer must pay you cash unless you agree to be paid by cheque or by direct credit. If you are employed by the government or a local authority, you can be paid by cheque without your agreement. What
paid holidays and annual leave am I entitled to? You are entitled to three weeks’ paid annual leave after one year’s continuous employment with the same employer. So even if you only work 5 hours a week, after a year you’re entitled to three weeks times 5 hours (i.e. 15 hours in total) paid holiday. At least two uninterrupted weeks of these must be allowed within six months of the holiday entitlements falling due. The rest must be allowed in the following six months. Your employer may give you more days off than this if this has been negotiated between you in the agreement. If you don’t take your holiday when it is due, you might lose it – your boss doesn’t have to let you carry your holidays into the next year. Details of your work’s policy should be included in your employment agreement. If you leave your job after being there for less than a year, your employer will work out your holiday pay (6% of what you have earned) and must pay it to you when you leave your job. If you’ve been there for over a year but haven’t taken any holidays, your holiday pay will be worked out for the completed year, plus any extra time you were employed. What
if I work on a public holiday? Can
my boss tell me when I should take my holidays? So the dates when you take your holiday are negotiable with your employer – usually you can both agree on mutually suitable dates. However, if no agreement is reached, a Labour Inspector may be called in to help. What’s
a union? If you want to join a union, it is best to join one which knows your industry well. You have the right to belong to a union. Your employer isn’t allowed to put pressure on you to join or not join a union. I’ve
got a problem with my employer – what can I do? If you belong to a union you could ask you union delegate or organiser to take up the matter on your behalf.
If you don’t belong to a union you could
get help from:
If you aren’t able to sort out your
dispute with the help of someone else, you may be able to take:
If you aren’t able to sort out your dispute with the help of these
sources, you may like to try mediation next. Mediators are employed by
the Employment Relations Service as one of a range of free services to
help people to resolve their employment relationship problems quickly
and effectively. If that doesn’t work, you may be able to:
If that doesn't solve the problem, you could:
I’m
being harassed at work – does this just come with the job? I’m
being sexually harassed at work – what can I do about it? The Employment Relations Act 2000 requires an employer to investigate the complaint and if satisfied that harassment took place, take “whatever steps are practicable to prevent any repetition”. If the sexual harassment continues and your employer has not taken any steps to prevent it, you have a personal grievance that can be pursued under the Employment Relations Act. You can also pursue a complaint of sexual harassment under the Human Rights Act using their dispute resolution procedure. However you can only use one avenue, either the personal grievance procedure or the dispute resolution procedure, but not both. If the first action fails, you are not able to take the second action using the other procedure. For
more information:
[Last updated September 2004] |
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