Statutory rights of the employee 36328 days. At this meeting the application, and other possible solutions, are considered.
Within 14 days of the meeting the employer has to write to the employee, either agreeing to
a new date on which a new work pattern starts or giving reasons why the application has
been refused.
Transfer of employees
The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) provide
that when a business is transferred from one employer to another as a going concern the
contracts of employment of all the employees are also transferred. These contracts then take
effect as if made between the individual employees and the new employer.
If an employee refuses to accept the transfer, this ends the employment without a dis-
missal having taken place. (So the employee will have no remedy.) However, an employee
can claim unfair dismissal if his refusal to be transferred was because the transfer would
result in significant and detrimental change. Any dismissal made because of the transfer is
automatically unfair unless it is made on account of the employee refusing to accept the
transfer.
National minimum wage
The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 introduced new rights to a national minimum wage.
The amount of the minimum wage depends upon the employee’s age. The rate at the time
of writing is £5.93 per hour for workers aged 22 or over, £4.92 per hour for workers aged
between 18 and 21, and £3.64 per hour for those aged 16 or 17. These limits are increased
periodically, roughly in line with inflation.
Employers must keep records relating to pay, and individual workers have a right to
inspect, examine and copy their records. If this right is denied an employment tribunal can
award 80 hours’ pay at the national minimum wage rate. However, the right to have access
to records applies only if the employee has reasonable grounds to believe that there has
been a breach of the Act’s requirements and if it is necessary to see the records to establish
whether this is the case.
A ‘worker’ is defined by the Act so as to include both employees, agency workers, Crown
workers and home workers. The armed forces, prisoners, voluntary workers, the self-
employed, some community workers and employees who live as part of a family, such as
au pairs, are not protected. Nor are apprentices under the age of 19. The worker’s hourly
rate is calculated by looking at a ‘relevant pay period’. This period is usually one month,
and bonuses and performance-related pay count when calculating how much the worker
has been paid. However, overtime and shift allowances do not count.
Example
Jane, aged 26, is paid £5 an hour basic pay plus a 20 per cent shift allowance. Her pay is
below the minimum, even though it is £6 an hour. John is an 18-year-old salesman, who is
paid £4.20 an hour basic rate. Every month he earns £400 additional commission. The Act
has not been breached. When the commission is included, John’s wage is well above the
£4.77 minimum.HMRC can enforce the Act on behalf of workers. It can also issue penalty notices.
Employers in breach of the Act can be fined on a daily basis.