Individual statutory employment rights since 1997: constrained expansion
| Published date | 01 December 2002 |
| Date | 01 December 2002 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01425450210453031 |
| Pages | 619-637 |
| Author | Linda Dickens |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
Statutory
individual
rights
619
Employee Relations,
Vol. 24 No. 6, 2002, pp. 619-637.
#MCB UP Limited, 0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/01425450210453031
Individual statutory
employment rights since 1997:
constrained expansion
Linda Dickens
University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
Keywords Central government, Employee rights, Collective bargaining, United Kingdom
Abstract This article explores developments in statutory individual employment rights since the
election of the Labour Government in 1997. It also discusses the mechanisms for the adjudication
and enforcement of individual employment rights. There have been changes in the institutions
and dispute settlement processes and procedures, although I argue that an opportunity for a
radical re-think was missed. There are continuities with Conservative thinking, as well as
departures from it. Part of my argument is that policy is being based on a problematic
representation of ``the problem'' of increased exercise of individual rights. There is also a neglect
of the inter-relationship between individual employment rights and collective representation at the
workplace. The weakening of individual employment rights under previous Conservative
Governments was achieved in part by weakening collective organization. Although the Labour
Government has addressed the former by strengthening and expanding individual statutory
rights, I argue that achievements are constrained by its seeming ambivalence towards the latter.
Introduction
This article explores developments in statutory individual employment rights
since the election of the Labour Government in 1997. Such rights have become
more extensive: there are more rights, including in areas previously
unregulated by law in Britain, and the coverage of them has widened to include
many people previously excluded from protection. Much of this expansion
results from the Labour Government ending the UK's ``opt-out'' from the
European social dimension, but some is driven by domestic agendas. The
extent to which this expansion of rights indicates a marked difference in
approach to statutory employment rights on the part of New Labour when
compared to Conservative predecessors is questioned: there is a willingness to
articulate different rationales but some echoes too of previous ideology.
The article also discusses the mechanisms for the adjudication and
enforcement of individual employment rights. There have been changes in the
institutions and dispute settlement processes and procedures, although I argue
that an opportunity for a radical re-think was missed. Again, there are
continuities with Conservative thinking, as well as departures from it. Part of
my argument is that policy is being based on a problematic representation of
``the problem'' of increased exercise of individual rights. There is also a neglect
of the inter-relationship between individual employment rights and collective
representation at the workplace. The weakening of individual employment
rights under previous Conservative governments was achieved in part by
weakening collective organization. Although the Labour Government has
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Employee
Relations
24,6
620
addressed the former by strengthening and expanding individual statutory
rights, I argue that achievements are constrained by its seeming ambivalence
towards the latter.
More rights and greater coverage
In contrast to the slight adjustments to the law regulating industrial action and
trade union governance, there has been considerable development in the area of
statutory individual employment rights since 1997, largely through the
Employment Relations Act (ERA) 1999 and Employment Act (EA) 2002 and
associated regulations. This stands in contrast to de-regulation under the
Government's Conservative predecessors where those individual statutory
rights which were not underpinned by European law, generally were weakened
and the remaining protection reduced (Dickens and Hall, 1995).
When the Labour Government was elected in 1997, statutory individual
rights included the following:
.minimum period of notice of termination;
.statement of principal terms and conditions of the contract of
employment and of discipline and dismissal procedures;
.right to receive an itemised pay statement;
.right to a statement of reason for dismissal;
.right not to be unfairly dismissed;
.right not to unfairly discriminated against on grounds of race, sex,
disability;
.right to maternity pay and the right to return to work after leave for
childbirth;
.rights to time off for various public and trade union and representatives
duties, and for ante natal care;
.a right to equal pay and other contractual terms as between men and
women;
.right to receive severance payment in the event of redundancy;
.rights relating to trade union membership and non membership, and
protection for union activity;
.preservation of acquired rights on the transfer of undertakings.
Since 1997, some of the existing rights have been enhanced and a range of new
rights and protections have been introduced, notably:
.National Minimum Wage;
.right to be accompanied in grievance and disciplinary hearings;
.working time;
.urgent family leave;
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