EU employment law

Employment rights

English law makes a clear distinction between employees and self-employed people. In general, employees have far more legal rights because they are thought to be in a weaker economic position than the self-employed. For example, the 1978 Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act requires that employees be given a written summary of their conditions of work; it provides that employees be given at least a week’s notice if employment is to be ended; and it gives employees the right to compensation if they are dismissed unfairly or made redundant (dismissed because there is no longer any suitable work). This same Act also gives women the right to time off in order to have a baby and the right to return to work within a certain period after having the baby. The application of these rights, however, depends upon the circumstances of employment. For example, people who work part-time (under 16 hours a week) have little protection. Men over 65 and women over 60 are not entitled to compensation for redundancy. The Unfair Dismissal Tribunal sometimes rules that it is fair for an employer to dismiss a sick employee, especially if the employer is a small business. And companies employing fewer than five people do not have to re-employ a woman who leaves to have a baby.

EU law sometimes gives better protection to employees than English law. When Ms. Helen Marshall claimed that she should not have been made to retire from her job at age 62 since male employees were allowed to continue until they were 65, she lost her case at an industrial tribunal which argued that EU law did not prevent member countries from having different retirement ages for men and women. But the European Court ruled that although different ages for receiving retirement pension were legal, it was not legal for a member state to force women to retire from work earlier than men.

Since there is supposed to be a single labour market in the EU there have been many attempts to harmonize employment rights among member states. One of the many questions still to be agreed on is whether there should be a standard minimum wage. Supporters argue that low-paid workers would be better protected if all employers had to pay a minimum hour rate. But opponents say that this would put too much pressure on small businesses and discourage them from creating new jobs.

Sunday trading is another issue dividing the EU. Although many European countries allow businesses to open every day of the week, the 1950 Shops Act limits Sunday trading in Britain — partly for religious reasons and partly to ensure that shop workers get at least one day’s holiday a week. But the rules are complicated and out of date. Stores can sell whiskey, for example, but not coffee; magazines but not books; light bulbs for cars but not for houses. Some fish and chip shops can sell many kinds of takeaway food on Sundays, but not fish and chips. B&O, a large DIY business, has claimed that the 1950 Act restricts imports from other EU countries and, therefore, breaks Article 30 of the Treaty of Rome.

The right to strike was one of the first employment rights to be recognized by law, yet the specific rules have varied from time to time and country to country. Since the 1984 Trade Union Act, all strikes in Britain must be supported by a majority vote of the workers in a secret ballot. Technically, strike action still constitutes a breach of an employee’s contract of employment. Indeed in 1976 when Grunwick, a London film-processing firm, dismissed all its striking workers, the workers lost their claim in an industrial tribunal for unfair dismissal. However, employers are unlikely to dismiss workers who are all backed by a trade union. When Britain had a high record of strikes in the 1970s, it was sometimes said that there were too many different unions inside each company — one to represent each kind of job. Recently there has been a trend towards adopting single-union agreements whether it is legal for an employer to decide which union a worker is to join.

Find in the text the English equivalents for the following phrases:

1. видеть необходимость в законодательстве, 2. станки заменили ручной труд, 3. требовать справедливой оплаты и приемлемых условий труда, 4. продолжительность рабочего дня, 5. здоровье и безопасность на рабочем месте, 6. выход на пенсию, 7. система страхования с целью защитить рабочего во время его болезни, 8. нехватка рабочей силы, 9. закон гарантирует минимальную заработную плату всем рабочим, 10. защищать рабочего от необоснованного увольнения, 11. предварительное/письменное уведомление, 12. условия трудового договора, 13. принимать законы, обеспечивающие равные возможности для мужчин и женщин, 14. закон четко разграничивает, 15. право на компенсацию, 16. право на отпуск для решения личных проблем, 17. работать не на полную ставку, 18. иметь право на компенсацию в случае сокращения, 19. создавать новые рабочие места, 20. вопрос, по которому предстоит прийти к соглашению, 21. большинство голосов, 22. тайное голосование, 23. рабочих поддерживают профсоюзы.

Decide if the following statements are true or false. Explain your choice.

1. The history of employment law has begun this century.

2. Farm workers began to organize themselves more systematically than industrialized workers.

3. Employees have less legal rights than self-employed.

4. The application of many rights does not depend upon any circumstances of employment.

5. Different ages for receiving retirement pension are legal, but it is not legal for an EU state to force women to retire from work earlier than men.

6. Strike action still constitutes a breach of an employee’s contract of employment.

Answer the questions on the text:

1. Dwell on the history of employment law.

2. What rights and conditions are standardized by employment law?

3. What legal rights can employees exercise in comparison with self-employed people?

4. Dwell on the main issues of theEU Employment Law. What problems do the EU countries face? Give your reasons for and against them.

Read the text and get ready to discuss it.

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