Selwyn’s Law of Employment is regarded as essential reading by law students and practising lawyers, and those studying employment law in a business or professional environment. This edition continues Norman Selwyn’s practical approach to the subject, providing a succinct account of all areas of employment law. Both individual and collective employment law issues are considered, alongside a broad range of UK and EU case law. New to this edition, the text provides coverage of the new IR35 legislation and the new immigration rules as well as an overview of the coronavirus legislation as it relates to employment, such as compulsory vaccination, the furlough scheme and self-isolation. There is also an up-to-date discussion of the gig economy employment status case law, and freedom of expression, and belief.
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Book
Ian Smith and Owen Warnock
Smith & Wood’s Employment Law draws on the extensive teaching and practical experience of its authors to provide students with a clear explanation of essential legislation and case detail while also offering incisive academic commentary and critical detail to help with essay preparation and class work. Throughout the book, topics are carefully explained in their social and historical context, providing readers with an insight into the fast-paced development of employment law and offering perceptive analysis of its future direction. This sixteenth edition has been produced against the background of the political instability of 2022, after coming out of the Covid crisis, and of course the largest elephant in the room, the uncertainties still of the overall employment law effects of our departure from the EU. Where appropriate it contains speculation as to possible effects. At the opposite end of the spectrum, this edition also contains the up-to-date case law on detailed employment law developments that continue in spite of such macro matters, for example in relation to the extent to which workers and unions have legal protection in cases involving what is generally referred to as the ‘gig economy’. In particular, the chapters on discrimination in employment, work–life balance, and redundancy/reorganization and business transfers have been subject to substantial rewriting. Finally, the changes to the style and layout of the book adopted in the last three editions have been maintained and expanded upon by the addition of a ‘Context’ section at the beginning of each chapter, in order to aid accessibility for the reader, given the ever-increasing complexity of the law itself here.
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26. Working time
This chapter looks at the background to the Working Time Regulations, the core working time rights and the specifics of the law. It then considers some of the arguments that have been raised both for and against such regulation. The Working Time Regulations regulate daily rest, weekly working time, weekly rest and annual leave, among other matters. The maximum weekly working time is forty-eight hours, but the UK has retained an opt-out to this, so a person can agree to work more hours. The opt-out remains extremely controversial amongst fellow European Member States. The chapter also considers remedies if the rights are breached.
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29. Industrial action
The law on the organisation of industrial action is mainly contained in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. This chapter sketches out the broad principles and their practical implications. It looks separately at three distinct topics: firstly, the law relating to trade unions and trade union officials organising industrial action; secondly, the law relating to individual workers taking industrial action; and, thirdly, the law relating to picketing (ie, demonstrating support for a strike outside an employer’s premises). This is an area of employment law which is both complex (some would say unnecessarily so) as well as controversial in a number of respects.
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1. Introduction to Employment Law
This chapter provides an overview of the fundamental goals of this text. It introduces readers to the running case study feature which is used throughout the text to explain concepts and rules of employment law. It then discusses key issues and themes in employment law. It considers whether labour law has a valid claim to be treated as a self-contained discipline and what distinguishes it from other branches of the law. It explores the role of this area of law and the arguments in favour of the introduction and preservation of such laws. It also addresses a central area of controversy, which is whether such laws stifle or stimulate economic growth. The final issue for discussion is the potential impact of technology-driven workplace changes on employment laws, e.g. automation, AI, etc.
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12. Disability Discrimination
This chapter examines disability discrimination law under the Equality Act 2010. It focuses on disability discrimination, with disability being treated as a separate protected characteristic. The chapter first considers the historical context and the possible conceptual approaches to the protection of disabled workers. It then addresses the definition of ‘disability’ in section 6 of the Equality Act. This is followed by an analysis of the employer’s duty to make reasonable adjustments in the workplace to accommodate disabled workers. Next, the ‘discrimination arising from disability’ concept is discussed. Finally, the chapter presents some comments and observations on the current state of disability discrimination law in general, taking into account the terms of the Equality Act and European developments.
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6. The Implied Terms of the Personal Employment Contract
This chapter first discusses the role played by implied terms of the employment contract. It then turns to the implied terms which impose obligations on the employer. These include the duty to provide work, pay wages, exercise reasonable care for the physical and psychiatric well-being of the employee; the implied term of mutual trust and confidence; and the discretionary benefit implied term and anti-avoidance implied term. The final section covers the implied terms imposing duties on employees. These include the duty to work and obey instructions and orders; the duty to adapt, exercise care, and co-operate; the duty of mutual trust and confidence; and the duty of loyalty, fidelity, and confidence.
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7. The Variation and Suspension of the Personal Employment Contract
This chapter first examines the common law rules regulating the variation of the terms of the contract of employment. It focuses on the situation where the employer seeks to unilaterally modify the terms of the employment contract, for instance in light of modern pressures on management to demand greater labour flexibility in order to adapt to changing market conditions. The chapter then moves on to address the ability of the employer to suspend the contract of employment, for instance where the employer suffers a downturn in demand for its products or services, or where an employee may be subject to disciplinary proceedings. Finally, it considers the future trajectory of the common law content of the personal contract of employment.
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8. Pay and Working Time
This chapter examines the statutory regulation of the wage–work bargain and the working conditions of ‘employees’ and ‘workers’, analysing their historical background and the justifications for their introduction. It covers the rights conferred on employees and workers under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 and the Working Time Regulations 1998, including working time rights and the right to annual leave. Both laws have the capacity to over-ride the mutually agreed contractual arrangements struck by the parties. The chapter also addresses the provisions of the Employment Rights Act 1996 relating to wages (e.g. the statutory right not to suffer unauthorized deductions from wages, and the right to a guarantee payment).
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1. Exam skills for success in employment law
The Q&A series offer the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, bullet-pointed answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and illustrative diagrams and flowcharts. This chapter gives students advice on skills for success in employment law exams. It includes tips on how to get the most out of an employment law course and how best to use the revision period. Students are also provided with helpful hints on what to do in the exam room to ensure that they have the best chance of success, as well as advice on the structure and approach to problem questions and essays.
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6. Statutory employment protection and related contractual issues
The Q&A series offer the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, bullet-pointed answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and illustrative diagrams and flowcharts. This chapter presents sample exam questions about statutory employment protection and related contractual issues. Through a mixture of problem questions and essays, students are guided through some of the key issues on the topic of statutory employment protection including eligibility requirements for the right not to be unfairly dismissed, the right to written reasons for dismissal, statutory minimum notice periods, the right to be accompanied to disciplinary hearings, and the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures. Students are also introduced to the current key debates in the area and provided with suggestions for additional reading for those who want to take things further.
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1. Introduction
Ian Smith, Owen Warnock, and Gemma Mitchell
This book focuses on employment law, which has been the subject of as rapid a transformation as can have happened to any legal subject in recent times, and is certainly one of the most difficult areas of law in which to keep up to date. In some ways employment law is a curious mixture of ancient and modern, for much old law lies behind or at the basis of new statutory law and in some cases the old law continues to exist alongside the new. The subject is, however, unrecognizable from what it was only 40 years ago, with the enormous increase in statute law and the ever-increasing volume of case law on the modern statutes. Thus, the intending student must be able to exercise the lawyer’s skill in dealing with both extensive case law and major statutes, sometimes of astounding complexity. As well as setting out the history of this area of law, this chapter covers important background features of procedure and the enforcement of the law through tribunals, including significant developments such as ACAS early conciliation, the fiasco over tribunal fees, and possible future reforms to the system of adjudication.
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1. The rise of employment law
This chapter defines some key terms and then focuses on the two questions that are most often debated when people consider the revolution in employment regulation that has occurred in recent decades: Why have we seen such a growth in the extent to which the employment relationship is regulated in the UK? What are the advantages and disadvantages of increased employment regulation for the UK’s economy and people? In answering these questions the chapter introduces some of the major themes which underpin the evaluative material in this text. It also considers attempts made by recent governments to lessen the burden of regulation on employers, most of which have been widely perceived as having had, at best, very limited effect. Finally, it considers the consequences and impact of how employment tribunal fees before they were abolished, and looks at the decline in membership of trade unions and its effect.
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10. Introducing discrimination law
This chapter introduces the field of discrimination law, explaining why it takes the form it does and summarizing the critical arguments often advanced concerning the whole body of anti-discrimination legislation. The scope of anti-discrimination law has widened very considerably over the past twenty years, principally as a result of EU law protecting people on grounds such as age, sexual orientation, religion, and fixed-term or part-time status. Different areas of discrimination law vary in respect of possible defences when an alleged act of unlawful discrimination has taken place. How far positive discrimination is lawful also varies. Some argue that anti-discrimination law may harm those it aims to protect by distorting the market and discouraging the hiring of under-represented groups. There is much debate about whether it is possible to establish a general principle to help define who exactly should be protected by discrimination law, in what ways, and on what basis.
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18. Equal pay
This chapter discusses the evolution of equal pay law in the UK, selection of comparator by the claimant, employer defences and remedies, bringing a claim, bringing equal pay cases using sex discrimination statutes, and critiques of equal pay law. The Equal Pay Act, which came into operation in 1975, was repealed in 2010, but its content was effectively transposed into the Equality Act 2010. A claimant is required to name a comparator of the opposite sex who she claims is paid more than she is, without good reason, despite doing the same work, broadly similar work, work which has been rated as equivalent or work of equal value. Equal pay law has been criticised for failing to bring about equality in pay between men and women. Suggested reforms include placing a positive duty on employers to take action to eliminate unequal pay. The chapter also considers gender pay gap reporting.
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21. Wages and benefits
This chapter examines the distinct areas of employment law that regulate the payment of wages and benefits. It starts by focusing on the national minimum wage and national living wage legislation, describing how these work in practice and assessing the many debates that still surround the effectiveness and impact of this legislation. It goes on to explain the situations in which employers can and cannot lawfully make deductions from pay packets, the right for all employees to receive an itemised pay statement and the administration of statutory sick pay (SSP). Finally, it briefly discusses the regulation of occupational pension schemes.
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23. TUPE
The Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (TUPE) Regulations aim to protect the interests of employees when the business they work for changes hands, or when their part of an operation is acquired or transferred to another business. They also apply in merger situations, when in-house processes are outsourced, when a contract to provide a service transfers from one provider to another, and when a public sector body such as a local authority ‘contracts out’ services, or indeed, brings formerly contracted out services back in house. They form a specialised corner of employment law, but one which can be very important for large numbers of people. This chapter discusses core TUPE rights, when TUPE applies, consultation requirements, contractual rights, unfair dismissal rights, sharing of information between transferors and transferees, and TUPE Regulations in respect of the takeover of insolvent businesses.
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28. Consultation and bargaining
This chapter looks at the regulation of collective bargaining and at ways in which employers can, in certain circumstances, be required in law to recognise trade unions and to consult collectively with their workforces. After briefly considering why the UK maintains a tradition of voluntarism as far as collective bargaining and collective agreements are concerned, it goes on to assess the work of the Central Arbitration Committee—the authority which has the major enforcing role in respect of the law in this field. This is followed by an analysis of four distinct, but interrelated areas of regulation: disclosure of information for collective bargaining purposes, compulsory union recognition, European Works Councils and the Information and Consultation Regulations.
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4. Unfair dismissal—reasons and remedies
Employment tribunals must address three questions when faced with an unfair dismissal claim: Is the claimant entitled in law to pursue his/her claim? Was the main reason for the dismissal potentially lawful? Did the employer act reasonably in carrying out the dismissal? This chapter begins by distinguishing between three different types of dismissal claims that are brought to employment tribunals: unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal and constructive dismissal. It goes on to discuss the first two of the three questions. It describes the four possible outcomes when a claimant wins an unfair dismissal case: reinstatement, re-engagement, compensation and a declaration that a dismissal was unfair. In practice, compensation is by far the most common outcome. The chapter then considers debates on remedies in unfair dismissal cases.
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6. Redundancy
This chapter discusses redundancy law in the UK. Redundancy, which generally occurs when an employer reduces its workforce for economic reasons, is a common form of ‘potentially fair’ dismissal. There are three lawful ways in which selection for redundancy can be achieved: last-in-first-out, points-based approaches and employee selection processes. Redundancy payments must be equal to the statutory minimum and are often higher due to additional contractual arrangements which are more generous. Notice periods must also be honoured. UK redundancy law is often criticised because it is less procedurally cumbersome and requires employers to compensate less than is the case in other larger EU countries. This suggests that multi-national corporations dismiss their UK employees before counterparts elsewhere in Europe.
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