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British Barbers

ARTICLE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED August 2018

Employee Rights- Do They Know…..Do You?

I recently presented a seminar on Employment Rights and Responsibilities at a College The audience were primarily level 3 students and were already working as apprentices. Less than 50% of them were able to correctly answer questions relating to their Employment Rights and a few had little more than a superficial understanding of the issues. Surprisingly many didn’t have a contract, some didn’t receive pay slips. Some weeks later I spoke to a group of salon owners. Only one could successfully tell me the current minimum wage and how to calculate holiday entitlement.

Employee Rights – A summary

The employer must provide a Contact of Employment within 8 weeks of the start date. However, I strongly recommend the Contract is issued and signed before the employee starts work to avoid any later disputes.

The contract must include:

  • Name of employer
  • Name of employee
  • Job title, and summary of duties
  • Weekly hours
  • Salary and pay arrangements
  • Holiday entitlement
  • Sickness reporting/pay
  • Pension arrangements

Salon owners will, of course, wish to protect themselves and add other clauses to the contract or I prefer a full set of workplace rules.

The employee is entitled to:

  • Redundancy pay (if they are dismissed and have 2 years continuous service).
  • Statutory sick pay (SSP) – if they meet the earnings threshold.
  • An itemised pay statements.
  • Not to suffer illegal discrimination.
  • To join a trade union.
  • A maximum working week of 48 hour week (workers over the age of 18 can agree to opt out of this). It's 40 hours for under 18s.
  • A minimum 20 minute break if they work over 6 hours (thirty minutes after 4.5 hours if aged under 18).
  • A least one day off a week, two days for under 18s.
  • 28 days paid holiday per year.
  • Not to be unfairly dismissed.
  • To have access a grievance procedure.
  • To have access to a disciplinary procedure.
  • The right to request flexible working hours.


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