Customer Service

Unit 1: Understanding the organisation

Session 2: Rights, responsibilities and organisation procedures
Session 2 - Learning topics
The importance of employer and employee rights
Rights and responsibilities of employers and employees in relation to health and safety
Health and safety documentation used
The Equality Act 2010 and related legislation
Other key legislation
Procedures for ensuring equality and diversity in the workplace.

The importance of legislation

Key legislation
Virtually every aspect of employment is covered by law. In the UK, the law applies to
businesses and organisations of all sizes and in all sectors. Take a look at the list on the
right to see the five main areas that are covered by legislation.

Employment laws are created to protect employers, employees, customers and third
parties. If laws didn't exist, people would be unprotected and situations could get out of
control. There would be no clear way to resolve differences or difficulties.

Laws help organisations to have rules of conduct that apply to all relevant parties. Other
methods can also be used to resolve differences of opinion or behaviour that break
these rules such as courts / tribunals.

Courts use an objective, evidence-based approach to solve problems to do with breaking

the law, rather than using force or power.
 Employment contracts
Employment contracts are very important documents. They spell out the key things you
can expect from your employer and what your employer expects from you.

Once you've worked for your employer for two months, you have the legal right to
receive details of your terms and conditions of employment in writing.

This information may come in a letter or a formal contract of employment.

Alternatively, you may receive a document outlining the main terms of employment,
with signposts to where you can find other essential information.

Take a look at the information to find out what an employment contract should include.

An employment contract should include:

Employer/employee name
Date employment starts
Main place of work
Job title
Duties and responsibilities
Probationary period
Hours of work
Salary
Pensions
Holiday entitlement
Sick leave
Dismissal.

Statutory employment rights

These address the legal rights of every employee in the country. They are based on
Acts of Parliament and regulations, and how these are interpreted in the courts. They
apply to all employees.
 Contractual employment rights
These are additional rights that are a result of the contract of employment between
the employer and employee. For example, many jobs will pay a rate higher than the
statutory minimum and this would be written into the contract.

See some examples of employee and employer rights and responsibilities.

Employer and employee rights and

responsibilities
Employee
Equality and diversity rights
Not to be discriminated against
Carry on working until at least aged 65.
Health and safety rights
Maximum 48 hour working week
Weekly and daily rest breaks.
Childcare rights
Paid time off for antenatal care
Paid maternity/paternity leave
Flexible working to care for children / adult dependant
Paid adoption leave
Flexible working
Unpaid parental leave for both men and women.

Wages and contracts rights

Itemised pay slips
Not have illegal deductions made from pay
Be paid at least the national minimum wage
A written statement of terms of employment within two months of starting work.
 Dismissal rights
Notice of dismissal, if you have worked for your employer for at least one calendar
month
Written reasons for dismissal from your employer, if you have worked for your
employer for one year
Claim compensation if unfairly dismissed
Claim redundancy pay if made redundant
Not suffer detriment or dismissal for blowing the whistle
Time off work rights
Paid holidays
Time off for trade union duties and activities
Paid time off to look for work if being made redundant
Time off for study or training for 16-17 year olds.

Employer
Pension rights
Automatic enrolment onto pension scheme for workers not already contributing to one.
Legislation responsibilities
Conform with statutory employment rights
Conform with contractual employment rights
Conform with Data Protection Act 1998.
Equality and diversity responsibilities
Put correct policies and procedures in place for issues such as disability,
employment equality, equality, equal pay and sex discrimination
Make relevant information available to employees
Deal promptly and effectively with issues of discrimination.

Did you know?

The following additional information may also be included in employment contracts:

A termination date for temporary jobs

Relevant trade union agreements
Grievance and appeal procedures
Details regarding sickness entitlements
Pensions
Notice periods
Disciplinary rules and procedures.
Key point
For your Assessment you must be able to state employer and employee rights and
responsibilities under employment law and why its important to have them (2.1). You
must come up with two rights and responsibilities for employees and two for
employers. Keeping in mind some of the information covered by employment contracts
and the protection given to employees should help when it comes to answering this
question.

All about health and safety

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 is the main piece of legislation
concerning health and safety for employers, employees and contractors in the UK.

Employers have a legal duty under this Act to ensure, so far as is reasonably
practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of the people for whom they are
responsible and the people who may be affected by the work they do.

The legislation states that risks should be reduced "so far as is reasonably practicable".
This term means that the person responsible for ensuring the health and safety of
others must weigh up the risk of a health and safety incident occurring with the cost of
trying to prevent it.

According to the Act...

Health, safety and welfare

Employers must safeguard, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and
welfare at work of all the people who work for them and "other persons". This applies in
particular to the provision and maintenance of systems of work, and covers all
machinery and equipment used at work. "Other persons" can refer to contractors and
even customers.
Take care
People at work also have a duty under the Act to take reasonable care to avoid harm to
themselves or to others by their working practices, and to co-operate with employers
and others in meeting statutory requirements.

Avoid misuse
The Act also requires employees not to interfere with or misuse anything provided to
protect their health, safety or welfare in compliance with the Act. At the heart of this
legislation is the recognition that everyone has a responsibility for health and safety
in the workplace.

Case study
So, where can you find health and safety information in the workplace? Would you
know where to start looking? Tap the headings for some ideas.

Organisation handbook
Your organisations handbook may include information on employee health, safety and
security.

Line manager
Your line manager (or department manager) should be able to provide you with information
about health and safety in the workplace. Or they should be able to point you in the direction
of someone who can provide you with that information.
 Health and safety poster
Your organisation must display a health and safety poster by law. The health and safety
poster must be displayed on all premises.

Health and safety leaflet

If your organisation does not display the health and safety poster, it must provide each
employee with an equivalent leaflet.

Health and safety manager

Some organisations have dedicated health and safety managers whose job it is to ensure as
far as possible that everyone is complying with health and safety laws. They will be the best
person to go to for more information on health and safety in the workplace.

Did you know?

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) 13/14 annual report for Great
Britain:

133 workers were killed at work

629,000 injuries occurred at work according to the Labour Force
28.2 million days were lost due to work-related ill health or injury.

Key point
You need to be able to detail anddescribe the health and safety procedures for an
organisation you are familiar with and discuss any documentation that is used (2.2 and
2.3). This is a good time to start searching for relevant health and safety policies and
documents from your organisation to support your answer to question 2 in section 2 of
your Assessment.

More on health and safety

Every organisation and every business will have different health and safety procedures
to follow, which vary according to the sector and industry in which they operate. For
example, a self-employed editor's health and safety procedures will differ vastly to
those of a construction business employing more than 250 staff!

Duties for health and safety

In addition to generic legislation such as the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974,
there may be specific legislation that covers your job role. In many organisations,
employees are told all about general and industry-specific laws during the induction
process.
 Specific laws and regulations apply to many areas including food and drink production,
construction, manufacture, storage and transportation of chemicals, installation and
maintenance of gas systems, and mining.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the body appointed to enforce health and
safety law. At the heart of their work are two important concepts: Hazard andrisk.

A hazard is something with the potential to cause harm, while a risk is

the likelihood of the hazard's potential being realised. In practice, almost anything may
be a hazard. However, it may or may not become a risk.

Legislation and procedures

It's not possible to cover every possible industry and job role in this course. However,
let's take a look now at some typical legislation that affects most organisations, and the
procedures that can be used for implementing these.

Below to find out more.

First aid and accidents

The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 and the Reporting of
Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995
(RIDDOR) apply to all organisations, and it is a legal requirement to
report accidentsand ill health at work.
Employers have the responsibility of ensuring the minimum first aid
provisions are in place, including a first aid box and someone who has been
appointed to deal with first aid situations when they arise.
They must also report certain accidents and cases of ill health or work-related
disease.
 They must keep records (electronically or in an accident book) of these incidents.

Display screen equipment

In the UK, there are regulations that apply to the use of computer
monitors(known as visual display units). The regulations cover
employees (defined as users) who spend a significant amount of
time using display screen equipment (DSE).

What do the DSE regulations say?

1. Workers should have eye tests before starting display screen work and at regular
intervals thereafter if they experience visual difficulties.
2. Employers should contribute towards the cost of these eye tests.
3. Employers should regularly evaluate how healthy computer workstations are, on-
site or otherwise.
4. Employers should comply with minimum specified standards relating to screens,
keyboards, work desks or space, work chairs, space, lighting, glare, noise, heat,
radiation, humidity, ventilation and software.
5. Workers should have adequate health and safety information about their
workstation.
6. Workers should receive training before starting any display unit work, and should
take frequent, short breaks.

Manual handling
According to the HSE, over one third of injuries resulting in more than
three days' absence from work are the result of manual handling
tasks. Work-related illness costs UK employers millions of pounds per
year in working days that have been 'lost'. Manual handling injuries can
be the result of manual labour, or from adopting poor or awkward
posture. Old injuries can be aggravated by poor manual handling.

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 require

employers to as far as is reasonably practicable avoid the need for
manual handling that may be hazardous, assess the risk of injury from
hazardous manual handling, and reduce the risk of injury from manual
handling that may be hazardous.

Employees must ensure they follow appropriate systems regarding

manual handling, use any equipment their employer gives to them to
help with manual handling, and inform their employer if they are
concerned about hazardous manual handling activities.
 Personal and protective equipment
Personal and protective equipment (PPE) is defined as 'all equipment
(including clothing affording protection against the weather) which is
intended to be worn or held by a person at work and which protects him
against his health or safety'. Personal protective equipment includes
items such as helmets, high-visibility vests, safety boots, harnesses,
gloves and eye protection.

Employers must provide PPE where there is a risk to health and

safety that cannot be controlled through other procedures. Employers
must ensure that PPE is assessed before it is used,
is maintained and stored properly, and is provided with instructions on
safe use. It must be CE marked, which indicates that it satisfies basic
safety requirements.

Employees must ensure they use PPE correctly, in accordance with

their training.

Risk assessments
Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers
have a duty to undertake an assessment of the risks to the health and safety of their
employees and anyone who will be affected by the employer's undertakings.
Employers with five employees or more must keep a record of their risk
assessment and review it periodically.

Slips, trips and falls

Slips, trips and falls are one of the most common health and safety
hazards in the workplace. A range of laws including the Health and
Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety
at Work Regulations 1999, as well as the Workplace (Health, Safety and
Welfare) Regulations 1992, help legislate for the safety of employees,
employers, service users and customers. Generally, employers must
ensure the risk of people slipping, tripping or falling is minimised as
much as possible.

On the web
Reporting work-related accidents(Remember though, it's a list for employers!)
 http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/reportable-incidents.htm
Manual handling
http://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/manualhandling.htm
PPE
http://www.hse.gov.uk/coshh/basics/ppe.htm

Time to think
What health and safety provisions can you spot in a place of work that you know? Have
a think and make some notes.

Key point
In section 2 of your Unit 1 Assessment you should be able to identify other key
legislation relating to industry and organisation (2.5). You might want to familiarise
yourself with some of the web links on this page as they contain a lot of handy
information about various bits of legislation.

Equality and diversity in the workplace

Similar but different!
People often assume that all employees in the workplace are the same. However, when
you think about this in more detail, it's obvious that a huge amount of differences (or
diversity) can exist in a workplace.

At times, differences are treated with suspicion or they are resisted. However, diversity
can add real value to an organisation and should be seen as a positive thing.

Protected characteristics
In all organisations, it's the law that all employees are treated in an equally fair way and
are given equal opportunities. Under the Equality Act 2010, it is unlawful for
employers to discriminate against their employees.

The Act protects against nine types of characteristic. These characteristics are listed on
the right.

The legal framework for equality and diversity has established clear
responsibilitiesfor employers and employees.

There is a moral and legal obligation to treat people on their merits and their ability to
do the job. Both employers and employees should make sure that inappropriate
labelling, stereotyping and prejudice do not influence the way an organisation operates.
 The Equality Act 2010 protects the following
characteristics:
Age
Sex
Religion and belief
Marriage and civil partnership
Gender reassignment
Race
Sexual orientation
Pregnancy and maternity
Disability.

Who is responsible for equality and diversity?

Employer
Put correct policies and procedures in place for issues such as:
- Disability
- Employment equality
- Equality
- Equal pay
- Sex discrimination
Make relevant information available to employees
Deal promptly and effectively with issues of discrimination
 Employee
Follow organisation policies and procedures
Be respectful at all times
Report discrimination to relevant members of staff
To help employers get to grips with equality legislation, most organisations set out their
approaches in an equal opportunities policy. Tap to move to Page 5a read more about
monitoring and these policies.

On the web
You can read more about this subject on the following websites:

www.acas.org.uk (the website of ACAS, the conciliation service)

www.equalityhumanrights.com (the website of the Equality and Human Rights
Commission)

Key point
In your Assessment you must describe organisational procedures for equality and
diversity detailing any monitoring and documentation activity (2.6). All organisations
will have slightly different procedures for monitoring these policies but the information
on this and Page 5a should give you a good basis for answering this question.

Disability discrimination
Pages:

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) was the overarching piece of legislation
which covered disability discrimination before the Equality Act 2010 was introduced. It
outlined several general and specific duties on employers to be proactive about
disability equality. The Act made it unlawful for employers to discriminate against
disabled people. Tap the header below to find out more.

DDA Disability in employment

The Act made it illegal for employers to discriminate against disabled people:

In employment terms and conditions

In opportunities for promotion, training and other benefits
By dismissing them (or other negative treatment).
Employers should also provide guidance on dealing with unfairness and discrimination.
Policies should also turn legal requirements into practical actions and behaviours.

It also made a number of provisions such as making reasonable adjustments in the

workplace, health and safety in the workplace and leaving/access to work.
 Many of these duties still apply today under the Equality Act 2010. Now, the Equality
Act 2010 protects disabled people against discrimination in the workplace. Under the
Act, a person is classified disabled if:

"They have a physical or mental impairment which has a

substantial and long-term effect on their ability to carry
out normal day-to-day activities."
(According to conciliation service ACAS.)

The Equality Act 2010 replaced most of the provisions in the Disability Discrimination
Act 1995. One important provision from the 1995 still remains in place - the Disability
Equality Duty.

This affects public sector organisations. It introduces general and specific duties on
public sector bodies to be proactive about disability equality.

Tap the headings below to learn more about employer responsibilities in accordance
with the Equality Act 2010

Procedures and policies

These should address issues such as:

Disability discrimination
Employment equality
Equality and equal pay
Sex discrimination.
Employers should also provide guidance on dealing with unfairness and
discrimination. Policies should also turn legal requirements into practical actions and
behaviours.

Employers and the law

In terms of equality and diversity, their main responsibility is to know the law and to comply
with it. The main legal requirements for equality and diversity are contained in the Equality
and Diversity Act 2010.

Other employer actions

Provide a framework through the right procedures and policies.
Give employees access to the relevant information employees should be aware
of important documents.
Ensure employees understand their responsibilities for supporting equality and
diversity in work.
Ensure managers know their roles and responsibilities in terms of equality and
diversity and respond promptly to any problems.
 Time to think
Is there any key anti-discrimination legislation that an organisation you know well must
comply with? If possible, ask your line manager for a brief overview and summarise the
points below.

Employers and equality

Even when interviewing potential employees, an organisation must ensure that
reasonable adjustments are put in place where a physical feature, criterion, practice or
provision puts that person at a disadvantage when compared to a non-disabled person.

The key to this is to take reasonable steps to provide aids where a disabled person is at
a substantial disadvantage when compared to a non-disabled person.

In summary
As part of their commitment to equality and diversity, it is the responsibility of
employers to develop appropriate procedures and policies. These should be accessible
to staff who should also be informed of their own responsibilities. On top of this,
managers should be clear about their own roles and responsibilities.

Key point
In your Assessment you must be able to outline how the Disability Discrimination Act
relates to employment (2.4). Remember that disability discrimination is now covered
under the Equality Act 2010 so your answer should relate to the rights and
responsibilities that are covered under this Act.

Time for a recap

Pages:


Well done! You have now completed Session 2 of this Unit. Below, you can see a
summary of the key learning outcomes covered in this Session.

In summary
In this Session you have learned about the role of customer service in
organisations You should now be able to:

State employer and employee rights and responsibilities under employment law and the
importance of having these
Detail the employer and employee rights and responsibilities under the Health and Safety
at Work Act
Describe the organisations procedures for health and safety and documentation used
Outline how the Disability Discrimination Act relates to employment
Identify other key legislation relating to industry and organisation
Describe the organisational procedures for equality and diversity detailing any monitoring
and documentation activity.

Rights responsibilities and organisation

procedures
Back to Session
Take a look at the following learning points to see a summary of what youve covered in
this Session:

Key legislation
Employment contracts
- Statutory employment rights
- Contractual employment rights
Employee rights
- Equality and diversity
- Health and safety
- Childcare
 - Wages and contracts
- Dismissals
- Time off work
Employer responsibilities
- Pensions
- Legislation
- Equality and diversity
Health and safety
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
- Health, safety and welfare
- Individual responsibilities
- Avoiding misuse
Duties for health and safety
- Hazards
- Risks
Legislation and procedures
- First aid and accidents
- Display screen equipment
- Manual handling
- Personal and protective equipment
- Risk assessments
- Slips, trips and falls
The Equality Act 2010
Protected characteristics
- Age
- Sex
- Religion and belief
- Marriage and civil partnership
- Gender reassignment
- Race
- Sexual orientation
- Pregnancy and maternity
- Disability
Employers and equality
- Procedures and policies
- Employers and the law

Quick quiz
Question 1
Which of the following is the most important reason for having employment laws?

To provide rules of conduct

To protect employees, employers and customers

To ensure data protection is properly enforced

Correct. Well done!

Question 2
Statutory employment rights address the legal rights of every employee. What do
contractual employment rights address?

The additional rights between employer and employee

Acts of parliament and regulations that affect employment

Customer expectations in the public sector

Correct. Well done!

Question 3
Which of the following statements are true in relation to the 1974 Health and Safety at
Work Act?

A. Employers must safeguard the health, safety and welfare of the people who work for
them
B. It is the employers responsibility to ensure health and safety and work, not the
employee
C. Employees should not interfere or misuse anything provided to protect their health,
safety or welfare

A and B

A and C

B and C
Correct. Well done!

Question 4
How many types of characteristic are protected under the Equality Act 2010?

12
Correct. Well done!

Question 5
Are the following statements True or False?
A. A hazard is something that could cause potential harm
B. A risk is the likelihood of the hazards potential being realised

A is True, but B is False

A and B are both False

A is False, but B is True

A and B are both True

Correct. Well done!