ACCA F4 - Corp and Business Law (ENG)

Part C Employment law  8: Contract of employment 135

5.4 Health and safety

The key legislation under which an employer has a duty to their employees with regard to health and

safety is the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which has been augmented by subsequent regulations,

notably the Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

This duty includes the following issues:

 Provide and maintain plant and systems of work which are safe and without risk

 Make arrangements to ensure safe use, handling, storage and transport of articles/substances

 Provide adequate information, instruction, training and supervision

 Maintain safe places of work and ensure that there is adequate access in and out

 Provide a safe and healthy working environment

Think about health and safety in your workplace. Do you think your employer meets their obligations?

5.4.1 Employment rights

The contract of employment contains an implied right not to be subjected to detriment by the employer

on grounds of health and safety. Specifically, the employee has a right not to be subjected to detriment on

the ground that they intended to or did:

 Carry out activities designated to them in connection with preventing/reducing health and safety

risks at work

 Perform duties as a representative of workers on issues of health and safety

 Take part in consultation with the employer under the Health and Safety (Consultation with

Employees) Regulations 1996

 Leave their place of work or refused to work in circumstances which they reasonably believed to be

serious or imminent and they could not reasonably be expected to avert

 Take appropriate steps to protect themselves or others from circumstances of danger which they

believed to be serious and imminent

5.5 Working time

The Working Time Regulations 1998 provide broadly that a worker's average working time in a 17 week

period, (including overtime) shall not exceed 48 hours for each seven days period, unless the worker

has agreed in writing that this limit shall not apply.

6 Varying the terms of an employment contract

A contract of employment can only be varied if the contract expressly gives that right, or if all parties

consent to the variation.

It should be clear, from your earlier studies of general contract law, that a change in contract terms can

only be made with the consent of both parties to the contract.

6.1 Varying terms without changing the contract

There may be circumstances in which an employer can vary the terms of an employment contract without

actually needing to vary the contract itself. For example, there may be an express term in the contract

which itself gives rights of variation, for example to allow a change in area of work.

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