Employment Law FAQS (employees)

Full-time workers are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks’ paid annual leave each year. This equates to 28 days for someone working a five-day week. Employers may choose to include public holidays within this entitlement or provide them in addition to it.

Part-time workers are entitled to the same 5.6 weeks’ leave, calculated on a pro-rata basis according to the hours or days they work.

Yes. An employer can refuse a holiday request, particularly if insufficient notice has been given. As a general rule, employees should provide at least twice as much notice as the length of leave requested, although employers may have their own policies regarding notice periods.
Holiday requests may also be refused if approving them would leave the business understaffed or if the request falls during a particularly busy period

Yes. When your employment ends, you are entitled to be paid for any accrued but untaken annual leave up to your final day of employment.

Annual leave continues to accrue while you are on maternity leave or sick leave. Full-time employees continue to accrue leave at the statutory rate of 5.6 weeks (28 days) per year.

To calculate accrued leave, divide 28 days by 52 weeks and multiply the result by the number of weeks spent on maternity leave or sick leave. For part-time workers, the calculation is adjusted on a pro-rata basis.

You are entitled to take any annual leave you have accrued during your redundancy notice period, subject to the usual arrangements for requesting and approving leave. You should receive your normal rate of holiday pay for any leave taken.

Taking accrued annual leave during your notice period does not affect your entitlement to statutory or contractual redundancy pay.

Employers have a legal duty to remove or reduce disadvantages experienced by disabled employees in the workplace where it is reasonable to do so.

Reasonable adjustments can include changes to workplace policies and procedures, such as modifying attendance management policies, adjusting sickness absence triggers, or allowing flexible working arrangements.

They may also involve removing physical barriers, such as providing wheelchair access, adapting workstations, or supplying auxiliary aids and equipment to support an employee in carrying out their role.

An employer’s duty to make reasonable adjustments arises when they know, or could reasonably be expected to know, that an employee has a disability.

While you do not necessarily have to disclose a specific medical diagnosis, your employer must have sufficient information to be aware, or reasonably aware, that you have a disability and may require adjustments.

In the first instance, you should raise your concerns informally or through your employer’s grievance procedure.

If your employer continues to refuse reasonable adjustments without justification, you may be able to bring a claim for disability discrimination. Employment Tribunal claims are generally subject to a strict time limit of three months less one day from the discriminatory act, so it is important to seek advice promptly.

Yes. Mental health conditions, as well as neurodivergent conditions, can qualify as disabilities under the Equality Act 2010 if they have a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

Where this threshold is met, an employer will have a duty to consider and, where appropriate, implement reasonable adjustments.

There is no specific legal timeframe within which reasonable adjustments must be implemented. However, employers are expected to act promptly and take reasonable steps without unnecessary delay once they become aware of the need for adjustments.

What is considered reasonable will depend on the circumstances, including the nature of the adjustment, the resources available to the employer, and the impact on the employee.

A fair redundancy process generally involves three key stages.

First, the employer should consult with affected employees. Where fewer than 20 redundancies are proposed, consultation will usually take place individually. Where 20 or more redundancies are proposed within a 90-day period, collective consultation obligations may apply.

Secondly, the employer must identify which roles are at risk and apply fair, objective, and transparent selection criteria where a selection process is required.

Finally, before confirming any redundancies, the employer should consider alternatives to redundancy, such as redeployment to suitable alternative roles, reduced working hours, or other measures that may avoid dismissal. If redundancy cannot be avoided, the employer must provide appropriate notice and any redundancy payments due.

Employees with at least two years’ continuous service are generally entitled to statutory redundancy pay.

Some employers offer enhanced redundancy packages, but statutory redundancy pay is calculated based on an employee’s age, length of service, and weekly pay.

The statutory calculation is:

• Half a week’s pay for each full year of service while under the age of 22.
• One week’s pay for each full year of service between the ages of 22 and 40.
• One and a half weeks’ pay for each full year of service from age 41 onwards.

Length of service is capped at 20 years. Weekly pay is also subject to a statutory maximum, which is reviewed annually by the Government.

Consultation is a meaningful discussion between an employer and affected employees about the proposed redundancies.

The purpose of consultation is to explain the reasons for the proposed redundancies, discuss how employees have been selected, consider any alternatives to redundancy, and give employees an opportunity to comment on the proposals and suggest ways to avoid or reduce dismissals.

Consultation should take place before any final decisions are made.

Yes, provided there is a genuine redundancy situation and your selection is not related to your maternity leave, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic.

Employees on maternity leave have enhanced protection in redundancy situations. If a suitable alternative vacancy exists, employees on maternity leave must generally be offered that role ahead of other at-risk employees.

Additional protections introduced under recent legislation have extended similar rights to eligible employees during pregnancy and for a period after returning from maternity leave.

If you believe your redundancy is unfair, you should first appeal the decision in accordance with your employer’s redundancy or appeals procedure. Employers often impose short deadlines for appeals, so it is important to act promptly.

You may have grounds to bring a claim if, for example, your employer failed to follow a fair redundancy procedure, used unfair selection criteria, failed to consult properly, or the redundancy was not genuine.

Employment Tribunal claims for unfair dismissal are generally subject to a strict time limit of three months less one day from the effective date of termination, so you should seek legal advice as soon as possible.