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TOPIC 7. LABOUR LAW
Text 1
Job Security
Exercise 1.Read the text and answer the following questions:
1. What does «employment law» mean?
2. Why is it important to establish a person's employment status?
3. Is a contract of employment a legal agreement?
4. How must employers treat employees?
5. Who must provide safe systems of work?
6. What are the main points of employers' responsibilities?
7. What are the duties of the employers?
«Labour Law» or «employment law» is the law which governs the relationship between employers and the people who work for them. This area of the law is concerned with defining rights and duties of employers and employees with condition of work, safety in the workplace and the position of trade unions and their members.
A contract of employment is a legally binding agreement between employer and employee, but there is no legal requirement that the contract should be in writing. It may be oral, written or partly oral and partly written, and as long as the employer has agreed to take on the employee and the employee has agreed to do the work required on mutually acceptable terms, a contract of employment will exist. It is important to distinguish between an employment contract (a contract of service) and a self-employment contract (a contract for services). For the most part only employment contracts attract the employment protection rights introduced by statute over the past few years.
A number of tests have been laid down to establish whether a person is an «employee» (under an employment contract) or an independent contractor (self-employed). It is important to establish a person's employment status for a number of reasons:
· employers are usually liable for torts committed by employees during the course of their employment, but will only rarely be liable for the torts of independent contractors;
· employees usually have the benefit of most of the employment protection legislation; self-employed people have much less protection;
· employers are responsible for deducting Pay tax and national insurance contributions from employers and for paying the employer's national contributions for them. Self-employed people must deal with their own national insurance contributions and may gain tax advantages from assessment to tax.
Employers must treat employees with trust and respect and deal with them fairly and reasonably. They must not prevent employees earning full day. They must pay their staff.
They must provide suitable work for their staff if they belong to certain groups of employees such as skilled workers who must practise their skills. They must pay their employees who are available for work when no work is provided.
They must provide safe systems of work and must take reasonable care for the safety of their employees.
They must ensure that their employees are competent and unlikely to be a danger to their workmates.
Exercise 2. Give the English equivalents for the following:
– трудовое право;
– определять права и обязанности работодателя и рабочих;
– безопасность на рабочем месте;
– профсоюзы;
– трудовой договор;
– принятые условия;
– обращаться с рабочими.
Text 2
Equality at work
Exercise 1.Read the text and answer the following questions:
1. What is the main term in every employment contract?
2. What regulations were introduced in 1983?
3. How can a woman prove that her job is equal to that of men?
4. Who is responsible for the correct level of pay?
5. When can employees apply to an industrial tribunal?
Under the Equal Pay Act 1970, employers must give equal pay to men and women for «like work». This in effect is a term in every employment contract. The 1970 Act sets out to establish equal terms and conditions in employment of men and women.
«Like work»:
a) a woman can only compare her treatment with that of a man if they are both employed by the same employer or by associate employers;
b) the woman's work need only be broadly similar, not identical, to work done by men for the same employer;
c) a woman's work is regarded as equivalent to a man's work if given equal value under a proper evaluation scheme;
d) inequality of pay is allowed when there are differences of «practical importance» in the work done, e.g. the man is doing a more responsible job where there is more to lose if he makes a mistake and thus justified in receiving more pay;
e) the Act does not operate where another statute regulates the employment of women, when men and women did similar work except that the men had to do a night shift and could do a Sunday shift on a voluntary basis. Women are forbidden by law to work on Sundays and at night in factories, so the men were entitled to be paid extra for these shifts.
The Equal Pay (Amendment) Regulations 1983 were introduced to allow women to claim equal pay on the ground that their work is of equal value to that of men. A woman may bring a claim before an industrial tribunal which in a proper case, can commission an expert to conduct a job evaluation study to see if the woman's job is equal to that of men. If so, the tribunal makes an award to the woman based on equal pay.
The Equal Opportunities Commission can give advice and help to women or to men who are concerned that they are not receiving the correct level of pay. Employees can apply to an industrial tribunal at any time during the employment or up to six months afterwards and the tribunal can award damages of not more than two years' arrears of difference in pay.
Exercise 2. Give the English equivalents for the following:
– неравная оплата труда;
– условие в каждом трудовом договоре;
– более ответственная работа;
– работать в ночную смену;
– добровольно работать в воскресенье;
– осуществлять дополнительную оплату;
– требовать равную оплату труда;
– обращаться в суд по конфликтам в промышленности.
Text 3