Employment Law II Issues at Workplace

Employment Law How much do you remember? history relations employment rights trade unions industrial action … Employment Law

Do you know the basics of employment law? Watch the video and answer the following questions: 1.What is retaliation in connection with employment law? 2.What are the alternatives to docking an employee’s pay? 3.In which aspects does ADEA protect employees or applicants over 40? 4.How are people aged 16 or 17 limited when it comes to a job? 5.What does “FMLA leave” stand for and what are the examples?

Do you know the basics of employment law? 1.It is illegal to punish workers who voice complaints, or use job-protected FMLA leave. 2.Instead of docking employee’s pay you should discipline them, e.g. suspension, or termination 3.ADEA = Age Discrimination in Employment Act; ADEA makes it illegal to treat an employee or applicant over 40 less favourably because of their age, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, training, benefits 4.They are not limited by hours, but can work only in certain non-hazardous jobs 5.FMLA Leave = Family and Medical Leave Act; pregnancy, serious health condition, parent / child serious health condition; up to 12 weeks of job- protected leave a year

Reading – label the paragraphs 1 A consequences of working overtime 2 C health and safety issues 3 D harassment and bullying 4 F work-life balance 5 G whistleblowing

Whistle-blowing 1 wrongdoing 2 litigation 3 relations 4 grievance(s) 5 personally 6 case 7 obligations 8 legislation 9 disclosure 10 unfairly

Dismissal lawyer X client lawyers – think about situations in ex.4/p.8 and decide if the dismissal is fair/unfair - prepare for interviewing a client clients – prepare your role (make up details)

Interviewing Client –don’t say everything at once –ask for explanations –let “Lawyer” play his/her role Lawyer –start the interview, ask questions, listen actively, make sure the client is following you Is the dismissal fair? Further steps?

Dismissal Unfair dismissalFair dismissal 1 pregnancy: including all reasons relating to maternity 2 family reasons: including parental leave, paternity leave (birth and adoption), adoption leave or time off for dependants 7 trade union membership grounds and union recognition 8 dismissing part-time and fixed- term employees 3 a reason related to an employee's conduct 4 a reason related to an employee's capability or qualifications for the job 5 because of a redundancy 6 because a statutory duty or restriction prohibited the continuation of employment

Grievances Put simply, a grievance is a (1) ___________. If you are having a problem at work (for example, you are unhappy with something you have been asked to do as part of your job, or you are concerned about the terms of your contract of (2) ___________ that have been changed, or if you feel you are being bullied by a colleague or a (3) ___________), then you can raise a “grievance”. Raising a grievance is putting your problem to your employer informally at first (by perhaps having a private word) or if that (4) ___________, more formally, perhaps in writing which will allow them to (5) ___________ and hopefully resolve your grievance. complaint employment manager fails investigate

Disciplinary Action If your employer is concerned or unhappy about your work, they may look to take disciplinary action against you. Examples of possible concerns include: the standard of your work, your (6) ___________ at work and your level of (7) ___________ from work. Your employer is not (8) ___________ to discuss matters with you informally. Instead, they may decide to take disciplinary action formally, especially if the matter is serious. If your employer decides to take disciplinary action, they should set out in a letter the (9) ___________ misconduct or poor (10) ___________ and the possible consequences you may face. behavio(u)r absence obliged alleged performance

Constructive Dismissal 1 acted 2 breaches 3 fired 4 forced 5 required 6 bullies 7 prove 8 leaving 9 submitted 10 raise

SPEAKING - EXAM PRACTICE Group work (examiner + students) give definitions explain the term in more details e.g. by giving examples, (dis)advantages, opinions (examiner asks questions) unemployment benefit, sickness payment, advance notice, redundancy, trade unions, strike, picket line, picketer, collective bargaining, justifiable discharge, wrongful discharge/unfair dismissal, disciplinary action, constructive dismissal, whistleblowing, employment tribunal,...

Speaking assessment CriteriaComponents Task completion Correspondence with the question/term Advantages and disadvantages/Expressing opinions Relevance/repetition Independence VocabularyRange and accuracy Collocations GrammarRange and accuracy Cohesion (linking) Pronunciation Intonation Pronunciation Intonation

Employer … employer dismissing an employee Employee … ways of leaving a job Money … phrase(s) related to money Holiday/Illness … phrase(s) related to holiday/illness No job … phrase(s) related to having no job To be out of work To be off work To be made redundant To lay sb off To resign To be on the dole To receive the unemployment benefit To sack / fire sb To hand in a notice To quit To make sb redundant

Vocabulary Which words are informal? to sack, to quit, to be on the dole, to hand in Can you add more words into the categories? to dismiss sb, to discharge sb, to submit a notice to make sb redundant