What rights do employees and employers have?

Employees have statutory rights to different types of leave and time off. Whether the time off is paid and how much can be taken depends on the reason and the employee’s circumstances.

Detailed information can be found on the GOV.UK website but the general entitlements are summarised below: 

Whether you can refuse a request for time off depends on the type of leave involved.

Some statutory leave cannot simply be refused where the employee meets the eligibility and notice requirements. Other rights allow employers to postpone or restrict when leave is taken in particular circumstances. For example, you can refuse an annual leave request for particular dates, provided you follow the relevant notice rules. However, you must still give workers a reasonable opportunity to take their statutory annual leave.

You cannot refuse an employee time off for jury service, although you can ask them to apply to defer it if their absence would seriously harm your business.

There’s no general legal right to an annual pay rise. However, an employee may have a contractual right to a pay increase, for example where their employment contract provides for a particular increase or pay review. You must also make sure employees continue to receive at least the applicable National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage. A pay increase may therefore be necessary when statutory minimum rates change or when an employee moves into a different minimum-wage age band.

Pay decisions must also comply with equality and discrimination law.

It depends on the employee’s contract and the change you’re proposing.

Working hours are often part of an employee’s contractual terms. If you want to change contractual hours, you should normally consult the employee and seek their agreement. A contract may contain a flexibility clause allowing some changes, but this doesn’t necessarily give you an unrestricted right to change an employee’s hours. Therefore, you should explain why you’re proposing the change, consult affected employees and consider alternatives. If a change is agreed, confirm it in writing.

More complex rules can apply where significant contractual changes affect a number of employees, so consider taking professional advice where necessary.

Employees don’t have an automatic statutory right to have bank or public holidays off work and bank holidays can be included within a worker’s statutory annual leave entitlement. Whether an employee is entitled to take a bank holiday off will therefore depend on their employment arrangements.

There’s also no general statutory right to receive extra pay for working on a bank holiday. Any entitlement to enhanced pay, such as time-and-a-half or double time, will normally depend on the employment contract or other agreed terms.

Understanding employment rights can help you maintain good working relationships and reduce the risk of disputes.

As an employer, you can help protect both your employees and your business by:

• providing clear, up-to-date employment contracts and written terms
• having appropriate workplace policies and making sure employees know where to find them
• keeping accurate records of matters such as pay, working hours, holiday and statutory leave
• applying policies and procedures consistently and fairly
• consulting employees where changes affect their employment
• keeping up to date with changes in employment law
• dealing with concerns or disputes promptly and following a fair process
• seeking advice where you’re unsure about your legal responsibilities.

Employment rights can depend on a person’s employment status and individual circumstances, so don’t assume that the same rules apply to everyone who works for your business.

For more guidance on workplace rights and responsibilities, visit Acas. You can also check Business GOV.UK for current statutory employment rights and employer responsibilities.