Your legal rights

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

We note the legal advice, which is supportive of our view that as staff transfer from the employment of London Underground Ltd to TfL, all contractual and non-contractual working arrangements and benefits transfer with them under TUPE.

We instruct the General Secretary, in line with our previous decision of 15 September, to share this legal opinion with TSSA, and to place in front of us a report giving a proposed way forward on this issue jointly with our sister union.

RMT General Grades Committee decision on TfL Taxi Engagement Policy:

We note the legal opinion on this matter, in which a key issue is whether London taxi drivers can be legally considered to have a worker/employer relationship with their licensing body, TfL.

We instruct the General Secretary to arrange a meeting with our legal adviser and officers of our London Taxis branch to discuss this issue further and provide the legal adviser with the information he has requested.

Dear Colleagues,

NECESSARY LEAVE TO LOOK AFTER DEPENDENTS

In view of the strikes next Thursday 30 June 2011, I felt a reminder on the legal position regarding necessary leave to look after children or other dependents may be of assistance.

Under S.57A Employment Rights Act 1996 (“ERA 1996”), employees have the right to take unpaid time off work, in certain circumstances, to care for or make arrangements in respect of a ‘dependant’. In order for the right to apply, the employee must:
(a) tell the employer the reason for his or her absence as soon as reasonably practicable; and

In April, working parents' rights will be extended in the areas of:

• additional paternity leave and pay
• right to request flexible working

Details are below. Employers should update their policies to reflect these changes.

Additional Paternity Leave and Pay

Paternity leave rights have been extended for parents of children born or placed for adoption from 3 April 2011 onwards (or who enter the UK from this date in the case of overseas adoptions).

Click here for a useful guide to what the law say about stress at work.

Section 10.1(a) of the Employment Relations Act 1999 states:

Right to be accompanied

(1) This section applies where a worker—

(a) is required or invited by his employer to attend a disciplinary or grievance hearing, and

(b) reasonably requests to be accompanied at the hearing.

Venue: Exmouth Arms, Star Cross Street, near Euston

All workers have the legal right to refuse to work in unsafe conditions. By using this right, we can protect ourselves and force employers to provide a safer workplace for us, our workmates and our passengers. With employers under increasing pressure to cut corners in order to save money, this issue is more important than ever.

The workshop will ensure that you understand your legal rights and how to use them.

From 6 April, employees will have a new legal right: to request time off work to undertake study or training.

Known as 'time to train', this right applies to you if you work for an organisation with 250 or more employees, but not if you are an agency worker. You must have worked for your employer for at least 26 weeks before you apply.

From 6 April 2011 the right will apply to all employees working in organisations of all sizes, regardless of how many employees there are.

From Thompson's (solicitors) website ...

Employees working in organisations that employ 250 or more people will, from 6 April 2010, have the legal right to request time off for studying or training. This will then be extended to all organisations from 6 April 2011.

What if I have an accident ?

“It’ll never happen to me “. We’re all guilty of thinking that accidents won’t happen to us, but the sad truth is that you are never that far away from the risk of being injured, whether it be a cut to the little finger or the kind of catastrophic or fatal accidents that are way too common.

Compensation is not going to be the first thing on your mind when the worst happens, but what should you do to make sure you don’t lose out?

The Law on Race Discrimination

Introduction - Guide 3

O H Parsons & Partners

We are a specialist Trade Union law firm having served Trade Unions and their members for over 60 years.

Much has changed over the years but our commitment to Socialist and Trade Union values remain as strong as ever.

We act for workers across a wide range of industries dealing with industrial injuries and employment law.

For the Union members, in partnership with their Unions, we offer the following service:

FREE

Advice and representation concerning any accident suffered at work, on the way to and from work,

EMPLOYMENT LAW TIME CHART

IDS Brief employment law time chart

Statutory right/complaint (SEE ATTACHMENT FOR RESULTS)

Dismissal

Written reasons for dismissal (S.92 ERA)

Unfair dismissal (Part X ERA)

UD for a reason connected with medical suspension (S.108(2) ERA)

UD for taking part in official industrial action (S.238A TULR(C)A)

UD for ‘trade union’ reasons (Ss.152 & 153 TULR(C)A) UD by reason of business transfer (TUPE, Reg 8)

Introduction

1 This is the second in a series of five brief guides to discrimination in employment. They are intended as introductory handouts for trade union representatives and people in the workplace. Their aim is to set out the main provisions which protect and enhance the equal treatment of men and women at work. Since discrimination law has become increasingly complex, the particular circumstances of a case may have a significant impact on the prospects of success and these Guides are not a substitute for legal advice except in the clearest of cases.

This is an extract from The Employment Practices Code: Data Protection, which you can read in full on the Information Commissioner's Office's website, here.

London Underground seems to think that it is OK for a manager to deal with staff grievances against him/herself! Not only is this self-evidently unfair, it also breaches ACAS rules. If your manager tries this, please use the following quotes to insist that the grievance is dealt with by a different manager.

The ACAS guide to discipline and grievances at work (which you can download in full here), states on page 44 that:

1) The principal safety legislation in the land, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (Section 7) states:

The employee has a duty in:

“taking reasonable care for your own health & safety and that of others who may be affected by what you do or don’t do”

2) Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended, employees have the right not to be dismissed, selected for redundancy or subjected to any detriment on the following grounds:

You have the legal right to parental leave - that is, time off work to spend with your young or disabled children. This leave is unpaid and has to be taken in week-long blocks. Your rights are outlined in detail here.

This are extracts from the section of the General Secretary's report to the 2009 AGM concerning the union's legal services ...