If you think it may apply to you, we’d recommend taking legal advice. One common area in which such a dispute may arise is bonuses.However, this is a grey and complex area. You can either make your employer follow it through legal proceedings, or bring a breach of contract claim should they not follow it. While you won’t usually be able to bring a claim for breach of the disciplinary policy itself, any breach of it by your employer will be important evidence in an unfair dismissal claim.Occasionally a provision in the employee handbook will be deemed to be, or have become, a part of your contract of employment. While you won’t usually be able to bring a claim in its own right for breach of the policy, you will be able to use the fact that the policy had been breached as important evidence in the discrimination claim.The same would be the case for disciplinary procedures where you have been employed for two or more years and have been dismissed for disciplinary reasons. In the main part, you have no legal right to enforce provisions included in your employee handbook in themselves, but your employer will usually be expected to follow them when it comes to other claims.For instance, there may be situations where you believe you have been discriminated against, and your employer’s equal opportunities policy has therefore been breached.
Health and safetyIf your employer has five or more employees, they are required by law to have a written statement of general policy on health and safety. The procedure should include a provision for appealing against a decision and should comply with the guidelines set out by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS).In addition, the employee handbook should also make provision for dealing with capability and performance issues. The handbook should clearly set out the procedure to be followed if you have a grievance against your employer or if you are the subject of a disciplinary. This section may include details of company culture, values, objectives and their mission statement.Disciplinary and grievance policies and procedures must be in staff handbookThese are legal requirements.
Staff Policies And Procedures How To Lodge A
Your staff handbook may include details of your employer’s policies on annual leave, maternity, paternity and adoption leave, time off for sickness, dependants, or compassionate and bereavement leave. This sets out the way your personal data is used, who it will be shared with and how long it will be kept, and how to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.There are multiple circumstances in which you may reasonably take time off. Details of your employer’s data protection policy should include how the company process and handle data, and your rights regarding access to data – including restriction of access to sensitive information.You also have a legal right to what is known as a ‘privacy notice’. Data protectionIt is a legal requirement for your employer to have arrangements in place to ensure safe storage and processing of data relating to employees. It should also include information about their policy in respect of equal opportunities, such as training, promotion or recruitment. Equal opportunities and anti-discriminationYour employee handbook should include your employer’s policy in relation to harassment and discrimination based on gender, trans status, marital status, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, religion or age.
The staff handbook should also include a policy and procedure in respect of retirement or redundancy.If your employer is a local authority, a large bank, building society or insurance company, a plc or US listed company, they must provide details of their whistle-blowing policy in the handbook. This should include details of time recording and reporting, as well as health and safety. Flexible working, home working and termination policiesAs home working and flexi-time is an increasingly common reality, your staff handbook may include details of your employer’s approach to these circumstances.
Combined with your contract of employment, your staff handbook should nearly always be your first port of call when any work-related issue arises.Have a query about the content of your employer’s staff handbook? Unsure about the legality of some of its provisions? Please get in touch with us today. It will largely depend on the circumstances of, and industry sector inhabited by, your employer.As an employee, the staff handbook is an important document that you should familiarise yourself with and check periodically for any changes. Get to know your staff handbookThe list of what could or should be included in the staff handbook is extensive.
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