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Explain the core principles that underpin employment law as it applies in the UK (or Ireland), including common law, their purpose, origin and practical implications

Module title

Employment Law

Level

71

Credit value

15

Module code

7ELW

Module review date

Sept. 2011

Purpose and aim of module

The purpose of this module is to provide learners with the knowledge, understanding and skills required to brief organisations on the consequences of current and future developments in employment law, and to give up-to-date, timely and accurate advice concerning the practical application of legal principles at work in different jurisdictions. The module will provide learners with the key principles that underpin UK (or Irish) and EU employment law, their purpose, the major defences that employers are able to deploy when defending cases, and the potential organisational costs and reputational risks associated with losing them. Moreover, the focus is on situations that occur relatively regularly in workplaces rather than on more uncommon or obscure legal scenarios and on advanced knowledge of legislation or case law. Employment law continues to expand both in terms of volume and complexity and the amount of regulation covering the employment relationship and the workplace has grown substantially in recent years, including additional duties placed on public bodies to actively promote equality. While organisations can source specialist advice on more complex and unprecedented issues from legal advisers, senior human resource (HR) professionals need to be sufficiently aware of major, current and coming developments in the regulatory environment to ensure organisations are fully prepared and also able to anticipate legal problems associated with proposed decisions or plans before they are implemented. In the context of increasing numbers of claims to employment tribunals, they take a leading role in handling issues and disputes at work and in leading an organisation`s response when a formal legal claim is contemplated or pursued, including preparing and presenting responses to employment tribunal claims and they need to fulfill each of these requirements to a professional standard. The module promotes critical reflection on theory and practice from an ethical and professional standpoint, and provides opportunities for applied learning and continuous professional development.

This module is suitable for persons who:

  • have responsibility for human resource (HR) decision making within an organisation at either operational, tactical or more strategic level
  • are HR professionals in a team or HR functional management role who are seeking to enhance and develop their career
  • have responsibilities for the HR function and activities within an organisation without a specialist function
  • are independent or employed consultants who support organisations in meeting their goals
  • have HR career and CIPD professional membership aspirations.

1 Equivalents in Ireland = 9; Scotland = 11

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module learners will be able to:

1 Explain the core principles that underpin employment law as it applies in the UK (or Ireland), including common law, their purpose, origin and practical implications.

2 Advise colleagues about significant legal implications of decisions, plans or proposals in the employment field.

3 Advise about the appropriate action that should be taken in workplace scenarios where employment regulation applies.

4 Play a leading role in determining the appropriate organisational response when legal action on the part of a worker or employee is anticipated, threatened or taken.

5 Participate in the preparation, presentation and settling of employment tribunal cases.

6 Know how to keep their knowledge of developments in employment law up to date and advise about the impact of these developments on employment policy and practice in their organisations

Indicative module content

Indicative content is provided for each learning outcome. This is neither prescriptive nor exhaustive but should enable achievement of the learning outcomes.

Explain the core principles that underpin employment law as it applies in the UK (or Ireland), including common law, their purpose, origin and practical implications. The following comprises a list of the areas of employment law that form the scope of the module:

  • accessing employment rights: employment status, worker status, continuity of employment, immigration regulations
  • contracts of employment: establishing and changing contracts, express and implied terms, written statements of major terms and conditions
  • discrimination law: the law as it relates to: discrimination on grounds of sex or marital status, race, ethnicity or national origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, disability, age, part-time and fixed-term work and the employment of ex-offenders
  • dismissal law: unfair dismissal, constructive dismissal, wrongful dismissal, redundancy payments
  • health and safety: criminal sanctions and their enforcement, personal injury law as it relates to the workplace, Working Time regulations
  • wages and salaries: unlawful deductions, the National Minimum Wage regulations, equal pay law, the payment of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
  • transfer of undertakings law: rights relating to dismissal, terms and conditions of employment, consultation and continuity of employment in transfer situations
  • family-friendly employment law: rights for primary carers; maternity, paternity and adoptive pay and leave entitlements; the law relating to ante-natal care; the health and safety of pregnant workers; parental leave; time off for family emergencies; the right to request flexible working
  • confidentiality issues: data protection law, interception of communications, the protection of trade secrets, the law on ‘whistle-blowing’
  • collective employment law: freedom of association, rights of trade union officials, industrial action, collective bargaining, right to be accompanied by a trade union representative, consultation rights

2 Advise colleagues about significant legal implications of decisions, plans or proposals in the employment field.

The practical impact of the above body of law on day-to-day management activities and decision-making in organisations; the level and nature of risk associated with acting unlawfully, particularly where significant change is contemplated or planned

3 Advise about the appropriate action that should be taken in workplace scenarios where employment regulation applies.

Approaches to recommend that are both lawful and effective in fields such as recruitment and selection, establishing terms and conditions, maintaining the working environment, managing performance, communication and involvement, discipline, pay and reward, training and development, allocating work and managing retirement.

Play a leading role in determining the appropriate organisational response when legal action on the part of a worker or employee is anticipated, threatened or taken. Managing disciplinary and grievance procedures, undertaking disciplinary investigations, taking witness statements; sources of information on the expectations of the law, employer defences and on case law precedents.

5 Participate in the preparation, presentation and settling of employment tribunal cases.

Employment tribunals and other courts with jurisdiction to hear employment-related matters, tribunal procedures, rules of evidence, remedies; assessing the risks and potential costs associated with defending or settling claims in practice; alternative means of resolving disputes through mediation and arbitration.

6 Know how to keep their knowledge of developments in employment law up to date and advise about the impact of these developments on employment policy and practice in their organisations.

Sources of information about the employment law and its evolution, including ACAS and the CIPD; key current and anticipated future developments and their practical significance for organisations.

Explain the core principles that underpin employment law as it applies in the UK (or Ireland), including common law, their purpose, origin and practical implications


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