Employment Rights

For expert advice and guidance on matters in relation to Employment Rights, please contact our Employment Law team on 01202 525333.

Unpaid Wages

If your employer has not paid your wages (or has not paid you the correct amount) this may amount to a breach of contract if the deduction has not been agreed in writing. The first step is to speak to your employer about the issue, asking why you have not been paid (or not been paid the correct amount) – this will allow the opportunity to resolve the issue and for the employer to correct any mistake. If you have not been paid the correct amount, ask your employer to explain the reason. You can then make an informed decision about whether to take the matter further, the next step usually is to raise a grievance before issuing a Tribunal claim for unpaid wages.

Our employment experts can help guide you through this process, assist you with a grievance process, attempt to negotiate an agreement on your behalf and advise you about any potential claim.

Unpaid Notice Pay

The law sets out the minimum amount of notice that you are entitled to receive, and required to give. This also applies to being paid in lieu of your notice (where you are not required to work your notice period). Your employment contract can include a longer notice period, but this cannot be less than the legal minimum. If you are served notice that is lower than the legal minimum, or the amount set out in your contract, you may be able to bring a wrongful dismissal claim in the Employment Tribunal.

Our team of experts can provide advice regarding notice, including whether you have received the correct amount of notice and, if not, advise you regarding a wrongful dismissal claim.

Working time, hours, rest breaks and holidays

Workers enjoy many legal protections including: maximum hours you can work per week (currently an average of 48 hours), minimum uninterrupted rest break (currently 20 minutes after working 6 hours in a day), breaks between working days (11 hours uninterrupted rest between work days), night worker protection including regular health assessments, young worker protection and limit on hours, and minimum entitlement to holiday (currently 5.6 weeks per year for full time workers).

Our team of employment experts can provide practical advice regarding the rules in relation to working time, hours, rest breaks and holiday.