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A pregnant employee has a number of rights:
1. to time off for ante-natal care.
2. not to be discriminated against on the grounds of sex due to pregnancy or childbirth.
3. not to be subject to a detriment on the grounds of pregnancy or childbirth
4. to maternity leave when the baby arrives
5. to statutory maternity pay or allowance
6. to return to work after maternity leave
The rights can often depend whether an employee is on Ordinary or Additional Maternity Leave. The law changed earlier this year.
This is the method whereby a third party assists parties who are in dispute to reach agreements without the need for the involvement of the Tribunal.
The mediator will act as an intermediary between the parties focusing on the real issues and encouraging the parties to reach an amicable settlement between the themselves.
The mediator may suggest settlements to the parties, but they have no authority to make any decisions or decide outcomes.
Parties are actively encouraged to settle matters between themselves without the need for the tribunal to intervene, and mediation is a less expensive option than tribunal that can nevertheless be effective.
Also known as the National Minimum Wage, the NMW is the minimum amount of pay employers are lawfully permitted to pay their workers. The minimum wage has different rates for different ages (no this does not contravene the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006). Rates are split in to three bands - 16-17 year olds, 18-21 year olds and 22+.
The NMW applies to workers, not just employees. This means that some people who are self employed, at least for tax purposes, such as building contracters working under CIS arrangements, may benefit from the right to be paid the NMW.
The NMW is reviewed every year and changes in October. Current rates and allowances can be found here.
A limited reduction in the rate of the NMW applies to employers who provide employees with accomodation. However, the reduction is generally less than the cost of providing the accomodation. This is known as accomodation allowance and the rates are available from the Berr website.
Misconduct generally means behaviour which is unacceptable in the workplace. It will vary from employer to employer but examples can include poor time keeping or using bad language at work.
In most types of legal proceedings, Claimants have a legal duty to mitigate their loss. This means they must take reasonable steps to make their loss as small as possible - as they would if there was no prospect of recovering money from their employer or anyone else.
For example, an employee who is Unfairly Dismissed can mitigate their loss by seeking to obtain another job. Alternatively, they may be able to mitigate their loss by setting up their own business.
An Employment Tribunal can reduce any award it may otherwise have made if it considers an employee has failed to mitigate his or her loss.
