Lawyers Reading

Reading Employment Law Solicitors

We have a wide range of experience in employment law issues and strive to provide workers in Reading with sensible  and practical, cost-efficient advice that fully informs you of your rights and helps you get positive results.

Statutory employment rights

Statutory rights for employees are many and varied in the UK.  The most important rights include rights to:

• Work no more than 48 hours per week unless the employee consents to work longer
• Receive a minimum wage
• Receive itemised wage slips
• Not work on Sundays
• Minimum rest periods
• Not have pay unlawfully deducted
• Not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, gender, age, nationality, disabilities, sexual orientation or gender reassignment
• Receive 5.6 weeks of holiday per year (which includes public holidays)
• Maternity and paternity leave and pay
• Time off to care for dependents in the event of an emergency
• Work in a safe environment that fulfills minimum health and safety standards
• Not be unfairly dismissed
• Not be treated less favourably that permanent employees if on a fixed term contract
• Equal treatment for part-time workers relative to full-time workers
• Statutory sick pay
• Minimum periods of notice for dismissal and redundancies
• Redundancy pay after two years of employment
• Work flexibly after six months of employment
• Be a member of a trade union and take part in industrial action

If you believe your employer is not sufficiently protecting your statutory employment rights, please get in touch with us to find out how we can help.

Unfair dismissal

Unfair dismissal can occur in numerous circumstances.  If the dismissal is based on trade union action or involvement, ‘whistle-blowing’ under the Public Disclosure Act 1998, the taking of maternity or paternity leave or for asserting a statutory right through legal or formal company procedures, then the dismissal will be considered to have been automatically unfair and it will be up to the employer to show that none of the reasons stated were applicable.

In other cases, a dismissal may not be automatically unfair but can be shown to be unfair if the employee can show that the employer was not reasonable or placed a disproportionate amount of weight on certain reasons.   If, for example, the employer did not provide written notice of the dismissal, a chance to have a hearing and be represented by a trade union official or colleague or state the employee’s right to appeal the decision, then this might result in unfair dismissal.

Get in touch

If you a worker in Reading and need advice on an employment law related issues, please get in touch with our employment law solicitors at your earliest convenience.