The beginning of the employment relationship
- The recruitment process: CV sifting and selection for interview, interviews, the offer letter, references and medicals
- Contracts of employment: what are express and implied terms?
- What are the important contract terms?
- Working Time Regulations, maximum hours, opt outs and holiday entitlement
Employment status and contracts
- Who is a `worker` and who is an `employee`? Who is a self-employed person?
- What are the rights of “freelancers”?
- Agency workers and Agency Workers Regulations
- Part-time workers
- Fixed term contracts
Discrimination and equal opportunities
- What types of discrimination are prohibited at work?
- Direct and indirect discrimination
- Gender, race and disability discrimination
- Sexual orientation, religion and belief discrimination
- Age discrimination law explained
- Victimisation and harassment
- Employer liability and defences
- The Equality Act
Family-friendly rights
- Maternity, paternity and adoption rights
- Antenatal care and pregnancy dismissals and discrimination
- Additional paternity leave
- Parental leave and time off for dependants
- The right to request flexible working
TUPE
- Understanding TUPE: definitions, employer obligations and recent case law
- What are the practical effects of the Regulations?
- Contracting out services
- Dismissal of staff or varying their contracts when there is a TUPE transfer
Grievance and disciplinary procedures
- The ACAS Code of Practice
- Handling grievances in practice
- Handling disciplinary matters: process, procedure and hearings
- Acting fairly and reasonably
Dismissal
- Wrongful, unfair and constructive dismissal
- What are fair statutory reasons for dismissal?
- Conduct and capability as reasons for dismissal
- How to deal with long-term and persistent short-term absence
- Dealing with poor performance
- What are automatically unfair dismissals?
- Compromise Agreements
Redundancy
- What is a redundancy situation?
- What consultation is needed?
- What claims can be made if it goes wrong?