All workers have some rights as soon as they start work. They gain others through length of service. The list below shows a summary of some of your main statutory rights (rights under the law) as at March 2006, and the length of service you need, if any, before you can claim them.
Note: Don't forget to check your contract of employment if you have one, as it may give you other or better rights.
Your rights from day one
- Rights to the minimum wage
- Four weeks' paid holiday per year
- A payslip showing gross pay, details of deductions and net pay
- Rights not to be unfairly dismissed for asserting a statutory right
- Right not to work more than 48 hours per week
- Limits on working hours and night working for young workers
- Right to breaks at and from work
- Right to join a trade union
- Right to have a grievance dealt with by your employer
- Right to be accompanied at disciplinary and grievance hearings
- Paid time off for ante-natal appointments
- 26 weeks' maternity leave
- Time off for family emergencies
- Equal rights with permanent employees for some fixed-term employees
- Right not to be discriminated against or dismissed on grounds of disability, sex, race, pregnancy, religious belief or sexual orientation
- Right for women and men to be paid the same for doing work of equal value
- Equal rights with full-timers for some part-time workers
Extra rights after one month
- Right to at least one week's notice
Extra rights after two months
- A written statement of main terms and conditions
Extra rights after 26 weeks
- Right to request flexible working up to the child's 6th birthday or 18 in the case of a disabled child
Extra rights after 41 weeks
- 52 weeks' maternity leave
- Two weeks' paternity leave
Extra rights after twelve months
- Right not to be unfairly dismissed
- Parental leave for children under five and disabled children up to 18 years
Extra rights after two years
For more details about these and other rights at work you can contact the Greater Manchester Pay and Employment Rights Advice Service (previously the Greater Manchester Low Pay Unit) on 0161 839 3888.
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Information Provider:
Greater Manchester Pay and Employment Rights Advice Service
Date Reviewed:
29/03/2006
This information is for guidance only and is not an authoritative statement on the law. Please read our Terms and Conditions.
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