From 1 October 2005 the minimum wage is:

• Adult workers aged 22 and over is £5.05 per hour (an increase from £4.85 per hour)

• Workers aged 18-21 inclusive is £4.25 per hour 2005 (an increase from £4.10 per hour)

• 16 and 17 year olds (above compulsory school leave age) is £3.00 per hour (from 1 October 2004)

Workers are entitled to be paid at least the level of the statutory National Minimum Wage (NMW) for every hour they work for an employer.

The rate applicable to Workers aged 18-21 can also apply to workers aged 22 and above during their first 6 months in a new job with a new employer and who are receiving accredited training.

Part-time workers have the right not to be treated less favourably than comparable full-timers. This means they should:

• receive the same rates of pay

• receive holiday entitlement pro-rata to comparable full-timers

• have any career break schemes, contractual maternity leave and parental leave made available to them in the same way as for full-time workers

• not be treated less favourably when workers are selected for redundancy

• not to be excluded from training simply because they work part-time

Most workers – whether part-time or full-time – are entitled by law to four weeks’ paid annual leave. Employees may have additional entitlement as part of their contract of employment.

A week’s leave should allow workers to be away from work for a week – ie it should be the same amount of time as the working week. If a worker does a five-day week, he or she is therefore entitled to twenty days leave. If he or she does a three-day week, the entitlement is twelve days leave.

An employee is entitled to a period of twenty six weeks ordinary maternity leave, regardless of her length of service. During this time, she will be entitled to receive statutory maternity pay provided that she has at least six months continuous employment, unless there is an enhanced entitlement under the contract of employment.

To qualify for maternity leave, a woman should tell her employer by the end of the fifteenth week before the expected week of childbirth:

• that she is pregnant

• the expected week of childbirth, by means of a medical certificate if requested

• the date she intends to start maternity leave. This can normally be any date which is no earlier than the beginning of the eleventh week before the expected week of childbirth up to the birth.

An employee should then write to the employer, within twenty eight days of her notification, setting out her return date. The employee can change this date if she gives her employer 28 days’ notice.

If an employer is contemplating dismissal – or action short of dismissal such as loss of pay or seniority – they must follow a three-step disciplinary procedure. This procedure requires the employer to:

• provide a statement in writing of what it is the employee is alleged to have done

• hold a meeting to discuss the situation, and

• advise the employee of his/her right of appeal

It is imperative that the employee is advised of his/her right to be accompanied at any disciplinary meeting. Usually this will be by a work colleague or a trade union representative.

If an employer does not follow the minimum procedure, then an Employment Tribunal is likely to find the dismissal ‘automatically unfair’. Compensation is then likely to be increased or decreased depending on whether the employer or employee failed to adhere to the new law.

Most employees are entitled by law to a written statement setting out the main particulars of their employment within two months of the commencement of their employment. As well as providing information on pay, hours, holiday entitlement and pensions the statement must include details of the employer’s disciplinary and grievance procedures. The statement must:

• Cover any disciplinary rules which apply to the employee

• Specify the person to whom the employee can apply and the manner in which an application should be made if the employee is dissatisfied with any disciplinary decision relating to them or for the purpose of seeking redress of any grievance relating to their employment

• Cover any further steps which follow from making any such application.

Both the employer and employee are normally entitled to a minimum period of notice of termination of employment. After one month’s employment, an employee must give at least one week’s notice to the employer; this minimum is unaffected by longer service. An employer must give an employee:

• at least one week’s notice after one month’s employment

• two weeks after two years employment

• three weeks after three years and so on up to a maximum of twelve weeks after twelve years or more employment.

However, the employer or the employee will be entitled to a longer period of notice than the statutory minimum if this is provided for in the contract of employment.