Although most companies today have HR companies to handle recruitment and employment issues, it is still common to find employers which make mistakes about employment laws. In our world today, we are surrounded by employment mistakes which are potentially costly, both to the business and the managers.

Employment contracts

According to the Employment Information Act 1994, the employer is obliged to provide the employee in a written statement  no later than two months after the commencement of his employment, his employment contract which should include the full names of both parties; the address of the employer; the title of the job and the nature of the work; the date of the commencement of contract under employment; terms and conditions relating to the hours of work including overtime, as well as paid leave and sick leave; details of pensions schemes; period of notice which the employee us required to give and entitled to receive.

Various difficulties and problems can be avoided if only employers took the time to get the employment contract correctly.

Equality

The Employment Equality Acts of 2004 and 1998 prohibits any form of discrimination on gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, disability, race/colour/nationality, marital status, and marital status. It also prohibits discrimination in employment, classification of posts and training, as well as conditions of employment.

Holidays

Holiday pay is earned against time worked. Employees, be it full time, part time, casual or temporary may earn holiday entitlements from the time since they started working. Each employee is entitled to 4 working weeks in a leave year provided that he works not less than 1,365 hours. Nine public holidays are also provided for and employees are entitled to a paid day off on a holiday; an extra days pay; or extra days of annual leave.

Dignity at work

All employers must take measures against bullying in the workplace. They must ensure that employees are not subjected to any kind of bullying from co-workers, bosses, suppliers and customers. There are also recent cases when this anti-bullying law extends to out of work activities.

Varying the employment terms and conditions

Altering the terms and conditions of the employment contract must be done with care because this can result to a breach of contract. There should be a negotiated agreement with both parties if a contract is to be changed. This is a complex issue and employers should be very careful when they traverse these waters.

Working time

Each employee should only have a maximum weekly working time of 48 hours and there should be a daily rest of consecutive 11 hours.  There are a number of rules which can be applied to average the maximum working week of 48 hours and there are also some exceptions to work which are seasonal in nature. It is also possible to enter into a collective agreement with the employer.

Unfair dismissal

For employees to be dismissed, there must be substantial grounds to justify the termination of an employment, and there must also be fair procedures that must be followed in effecting the termination.