Whether you’ve experienced unfair dismissal, workplace discrimination, wrongful termination, or anything in between, understanding employment law is crucial to protecting your rights as an employee. If you have faced an unfair dismissal, wage dispute, discrimination or harassment in the workplace, hiring an employment law solicitor will protect you from unfair treatment or dismissal.
In this article, we aim to look closely at employment law and the importance of hiring an experienced employment law solicitor to handle your dispute.
What’s Employment Law?
Covered by employment law solicitors, employment law is a vast area of the legal system. Covering a whole host of topics that are involved in the employment relationship, largely governing processes and policies you can put in place, employment law can be essential in employment disputes or tribunals, to protect your rights and character from unfair or improper treatment.
What Does It Cover?
Employment law covers a huge range of topics, but some of the most common employment law claims include employment contracts, discrimination, equal pay, working hours, disciplinary procedures, sick pay, equality and diversity in the workplace, reasonable adjustments for employees with disabilities and so much more besides.
Employment Contract Clauses
Many employment contracts will include clauses to reduce your rights, particularly in the event of dismissal, termination or resignation. This is why it’s so important to hire a professional employment law solicitor, to navigate claims or disputes with an employer in the event of unfair dismissal and tribunal, to ensure you have the best possible counsel to help resolve your issue. In general, the most common contract disputes by employees are:
Bonus Payments
Generally speaking, dismissal, particularly for gross misconduct, will not result in bonus payments being made, as this usually relates to a breach of contract rendering the bonus clause null and void. However, if the dismissal is later deemed as unfair, a claim for loss of earnings can also be made in conjunction with your employment tribunal. It is common for employment contracts to contain clauses that deny you your bonus should your employment status change at the date of the bonus payment, meaning that if you have resigned or have given your notice prior to the bonus payment date, you may not be eligible to receive it even if you are still under current employment.
If your employer has given you your notice there are three main other scenarios to consider:
● You work your notice period.
● You are placed on garden leave.
● PILON (Payment in Lieu of Notice).
If there is a PILON clause in your contract, your employer may decide that you no longer need to work your notice, bringing forward your termination date. This typically revokes your right to a bonus as you’ll no longer be working up until the bonus payment date. As an employee, this is something to be aware of, as it’s not uncommon for employers to use PILON to speed up the process of an employee’s departure to avoid paying their owed bonus. If there is no PILON clause in your contract, and your employer still decides to use it, this is a breach of contract and will give you strong foundations to issue proceedings and bring forward your case.
In general, employment tribunal claims for non-payment of a bonus happens frequently, and we recommend you make your claim no later than three months after the incident of non-payment.
Wage Claims
Similar to unpaid bonus payments, it’s not unusual for employers to refuse wages after dismissal. If you're owed unpaid wages, you'll have a reasonable chance of reclaiming them if you can prove:
● You are, or were, an employee of the company.
● Any money you are owed can be claimed for in the employment tribunal.
● You’re entitled to the money you're claiming.
● Your employer did not have a legal right to withhold or deduct your pay.
Unauthorised Deductions
Unauthorised deductions mean that the employer had no right to take the money from the wages that were due. An employer is allowed to make authorised deductions. Unauthorised deductions include:
● Legal deductions, such as tax and National Insurance.
● Deductions agreed in your contract.
● Deductions not in your contract that you have agreed in advance with your employer.
● Deductions to repay the employer for having overpaid your wages in the past.
If you are to take your case to a tribunal, it’s vital you have the appropriate evidence and paperwork to prove your claim, as your employer will typically suggest any and all deductions were justifiably authorised. Gathering evidence and paperwork will stand you in good stead to refute your employer’s claims and earn back the money you are owed. If you are without the appropriate evidence or paperwork, you should contact your employer or bank for further copies. Remember, you have a legal right to your payslip, so if your employer is refusing to hand it over, not only are they breaking the law, it may even be an indication they have something to hide.
Unfair Dismissal and Gross Misconduct
Unfair dismissal occurs when an employee believes they have been dismissed by their employer without a fair or just reason to do so. As the Employment Rights Act 1996 states, employees are entitled to a fair reason for dismissal before being relieved of duty. The act also states that should an employee have two or more years of continuous service with your company or practice, they have the legal right to bring a claim against you if they believe they have been unfairly dismissed. This is also true if there is evidence to suggest the dismissal procedure was handled incorrectly or without appeal.
Discrimination In The Workplace
If at any point you believe you have been faced with workplace discrimination or unfair treatment, DJP Solicitors can offer the guidance you need to tackle your employment law case. For workplace discrimination, there are several protected characteristics that are outlined in the Equality Act 2010 to prevent discrimination in the workplace and no employee should be treated differently or worse because of them. These protected characteristics are as follows;
● Sex
● Race
● Religion
● Pregnancy and Maternity
● Gender Reassignment
● Disability
● Marriage and civil partnership
● Sexual orientation
● Age
If an employer is found to have targeted an employee specifically based on one of these key characteristics, your dismissal will likely be deemed unjust or unfair.
Direct Discrimination
This occurs when an individual is targeted and treated either differently or worse than another employee due to an underlying reason, usually related to someone’s race, religion, age, gender or sexuality. These are known as ‘protected characteristics. Direct discrimination is split into three main categories:
● Direct Discrimination: This occurs when an individual is treated differently because of a protected characteristic. It’s the only type of direct discrimination which may be lawful, but only if it is ‘objectively justifiable’.
● Direct Discrimination By Association: When an individual is treated differently because of a protected characteristic possessed by another individual with who they are associated. For instance, if you are friends with a work colleague who is discriminated against, it may lead to being discriminated against yourself.
● Direct Discrimination By Perception: People are treated differently because of a protected characteristic other people think they possess, regardless of whether the perception is correct. For example, mistaking someone’s race, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion.
Indirect Discrimination
Indirect discrimination usually happens when new procedures or rules are implemented that place certain individuals with specific characteristics at a disadvantage. An example of this would be an employer implementing minimum height requirements for a job in which height is not relevant. This would then discriminate against almost all women in the workplace, as well as certain ethnic groups or individuals. Indirect discrimination is a less obvious type of discrimination and is usually considered unintentional.
Hiring an Employment Law Solicitor
If you believe you have been subjected to improper treatment from an employer, you should consider hiring an employment law solicitor as soon as possible, to protect your rights, employment status and character. An employment law solicitor will be able to handle these disputes, recognise potential misconduct from your employer and act accordingly. They will advise you on the best strategy, gathering evidence and information as they do so, to successfully negotiate settlements in your best interests. At DJP Solicitors, we are able to handle almost any employment-related issue or dispute.
DJP Solicitors - Employment Law Solicitors in Aberdeen
At DJP solicitors, our employment law solicitors take pride in helping our clients through difficult employment-related issues. We make sure that we’re fully trained and that we are in keeping with the latest changes to employment law to ensure that we offer only the very best legal advice. Our employment law advice is based on a wealth of experience in the field which is taken to each case. As a law firm in Aberdeen, we’re dedicated and proud to offer legal advice and representation over employment law claims. Contact us today.
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