Employment Act 1980
| Published date | 01 March 1981 |
| Date | 01 March 1981 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1981.tb02746.x |
LEGISLATION
EMPLOYMENT
Acr
1980
IN
retrospect the Employment Act
1980
might seem to be of less
importance than the well-publicised controversy which surrounded
its introduction and enactment in
1979-80
suggested. Any such
im-
pression may well prove to be dangerously misleading even though
the Act and the history of its passage through Parliament disclose
neither
a
coherent philosophy nor any real understanding of the
historical development of British labour law. It is an undistinguished,
miscellaneous collection
of
provisions, most of which take effect by
way of amendments to the labour legislation of the previous Govern-
ment enacted between
1974
and
1978.
I
INDIVIDUAL
LABOUR LAW
Maternity
rights
The Act does not amend the statutory right to maternity pay,Z
although the Government does intend to change this as part
of
a
general revision of financial entitlements
on
mat ern it^.^
The solitary
addition to workers’ rights made
by
the Act is in section
13
which
inserts section
31A
into the time
off
provisions in E.P.(C.)A.,
ss.
27-32.
This establishes a right for pregnant employees not to be
unreasonably refused paid time
off
during working hours in order to
keep appointments for the purpose of ante-natal care.
If
refused,
the remedy is compensation equal to
an
amount which the employee
would have been entitled to receive had time off been allowed.
Con-
cern at the extent of perinatal mortality and handicap expressed to
and by the House of Commons Select Committee on Social Services
led
to
this provision being added to the Bill.4
It
creates a very
minimal right likely to amount to
no
more than six half-days time
off
for women who stop work
11
weeks before c~nfinement.~
1
Referred to bclow as the Act. A11 section references in this and the Note on
thc Codes which follows are to the Act unless otherwise indicated. The following
abbreviations are used for other legislation
:
Industrial Relations Act
1971,
I.R.A.
;
Trade Union and Labour Relations Acts
1974
and
1976,
T.U.L.R.A.; Employment
Protection Act
1975,
E.P.A.
;
Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act
1978,
E.P.(C.)A.
All
the provisions
of
thc Act except
s.
19
(a),
which repeals T.U.L.R.A.,
s. 1A
and came into force
on
December
22, 1980,
came into force between August
1
and October
1,
1980.
See
s.
21 (2),
Employment Act (Commencement
No. 1)
Order,
S.I.
1980
No.
1170,
and
E.A.
(
(No.
3)
O.,
S.I. 1980No. 1926).
2
Cf.
s.
14
which limits the entitlement to guarantee pay under E.P.(C.)A.,
sS.
12-18
to five days in any threc months rather than five days in each of the quarters
starting on February
1,
May
1,
August
1
and November
1.
3
Sec
“
A Fresh Look at Maternity Benefits,”
a
D.H.S.S.
Consultative Document,
October
1980.
4
See H.C. Standing Committee A, cols.
1717-1724,
April
1, 1980.
It was con-
templated, but rejected
as
unnecessary when these provisions were first enacted. See
5
It could be
of
greater value to women who lack the two years’ employment
qualification for statutory maternity leave and remain at work after the
first
six
months
of
pregnancy.
188
H.C.Deb.,
Vol. 891,
CO~S.
214-279,
August
5,
1975.
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