The issue of employee rights is an ever-changing landscape that is shaped by both legal and cultural influences. To the uninitiated it can seem like a minefield, but a small amount of research can be a real boost to your confidence within your position, particularly if you feel that your rights within the workplace might be being compromised. Below is a basic introduction to the rights afforded to employees within the UK.

Which worker are you?
Before you can begin to work out what your employee rights are in a particular situation, the first step is to accurately assess what type of worker you are. For most of us, this question is relatively easy to answer, although the classifications within law are important to realise, as they could directly affect the rights afforded to you in your present employment. There are three main categories:

Employee
The most common classification within professional vocations, an employee is defined by the Government as somebody employed by a company, is on their books, and has an open-ended or fixed term contract, working either full or part time.

Worker
This classification includes almost everyone else except for the self-employed, for example freelancers, casual workers and temps.

Self employed
The Government classification of self-employed is someone that works for themselves on behalf of a variety of different companies or people.

As expected, employees get the most protection in terms of their rights, and this will vary from company to company. Workers are afforded only the most basic, core rights, whilst people who are self employed have very few, if any, rights within the organisation that they serve. If you are unsure about which category you fit into, there is an online questionnaire available from the government (http://www.direct.gov.uk) that can help you find out.

Which issues are commonly cited?
There are many issues that can occur within the commercial environment that might require you to have a basic knowledge of your rights. The common types of issues can include:

- Discrimination on grounds of age, sex, race or sexuality
- Pay levels (including overtime)
- Working conditions
- Medical problems
- Bullying in the workplace
- Unfair dismissal

Keep your first approach informal
If you feel that you are being unfairly treated for whatever reason, then it is recommended that you keep your initial approaches informal. A full list of the types of rights afforded to you can be found on the direct.gov.uk website, although if you think that the issue is easily rectifiable, then it will be worth having a discussion with your line manager or HR department about it. It could be that your company simply doesn’t understand the law or it’s obligations towards you, and in this situation a low level discussion could be all it takes to put the issue right.

Escalating your claim
If it transpires that your issues are not able to be addressed through an informal conversation, then it may be time for you to take further action. Your company is, by law, required to have a clear grievance policy, and you should be able to follow the procedures contained within it to further pursue your protection of your rights.

External action
If you feel that your grievance is being ignored, or mistreated, and that your rights are being clearly restricted, then you can take your case to an employment tribunal, who are able to make an impartial but legally binding decision on the matter. To find out more about how tribunals work, go to http://www.employmenttribunals.gov.uk/

A broader view
Generally speaking however, it is only a small percentage of professionals that encounter situations that require an exercising of their employee rights. Most companies, and their HR departments, realise that treating their employees well is good for business, and many issues that might arise can be easily addressed in-house, and with a minimum of fuss. It is good to be aware of your rights, even though the chances are hopefully slim that you will ever need to act on this knowledge.