2.5.2 Legislation Flashcards
Definition: Legislation
• A set of laws suggested by government and made official by parliament
What 5 categories does legislation fall into?
• Legislation falls into these 5 categories:
1. consumer protection
2. employee protection
3. environmental protection
4. competition policy
5. health and safety
Consumer Protection Law
The law protects consumer rights when they buy goods or services.
Customers have legal rights if the item you bought is:
• broken or damaged (‘not of satisfactory quality’)
• unusable (‘not fit for purpose’)
• not what was advertised or doesn’t
match the seller’s description
Consumer protection effect on business
• Under the consumer protection act a business must not give false or misleading information about products
• E.g. fake designer handbags marked as genuine are in breach of the act
Employee protection
• The UK government has, over time, passed lots of laws designed to help and protect the UK worker.
• These acts makes sure the UK worker gets paid when they are sick, gets paternity and maternity pay, is not discriminated against, gets a fair wage and is treated equally.
Employee protection: Employment Rights Act
• States duties and rights of the employer and employee
• Includes the employee’s rights to maternity and paternity leave • Details regarding termination of employment
• Right to a written contract of employment within 60 days of starting work
Employee protection: National Minimum Wage Act
• Applies to nearly all workers and sets hourly rates below which pay must not be allowed to fall
• Paying the minimum wage will raise costs for a business
• This may have an impact on their profit margins or profitability
• Failure to do so can result in fines or prosecution
Employee protection: National living wage
• The National Living Wage is higher than the National Minimum Wage - workers get it if they’re over 25.
• This is projected to rise to £9 an hour by 2020
• Businesses that fail to pay it could face maximum penalty of £20,000 per worker.
Employee protection: Working Time Regulations 1998
• These regulations makes sure that there is a limit of 48 hours in a working week (though workers can choose to work more if they want to)
• Workers also have the right to 11 hours rest a day and the right to a day off each week and the right to an in-work rest break if the working day is longer than 6 hours and the right to 4 weeks paid leave per year
Employee protection: Pensions Act 2008
• Under the Pensions Act 2008, every employer in the UK must put their qualifying employees into a pension scheme and pay contributions. This is called ‘automatic enrolment’
• Once the business has set up a pension scheme and put their eligible staff into it, then they must continue to make the payments that are due into the scheme every month
• The Pensions Regulator monitors the contributions that are paid into workplace pensions, and will fine the business is they are not being paid
Employee protection: Equality Act 2010
• The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace
• It replaced previous anti- discrimination laws with a single Act
• A business needs to make sure that it complies with the law during recruitment and during the contract term of the employee
Environmental protection
• Polluted air, noise pollution and chemical spills are some examples of how business can have a negative impact on the environment
• The Environmental Protection Act of 1990 attempts to control pollution in terms of business waste that is disposed of in the air, on land and in the sea
Competition policy
• Legislation in place by the government designed to prevent collusion – price fixing by businesses getting together and agreeing a price to charge for their products
• CMA is the competition and Markets Authority who are independent regulators
• The CMA aims to “promote competition for the benefit of consumers”
• They investigate mergers that restrict competition
Health and Safety at Work Act: workplace hazard
• In general, health and safety laws apply to all businesses
• As an employer, or a self- employed person, they are responsible for health and safety in the business
• Health and safety laws are there to protect the owners, the employees and the public from workplace dangers
Health and Safety at Work Act: employer duties
Prevent accidents and cases of work- related ill health by managing the health and safety risks in the workplace
Provide clear instructions and information, and adequate training, to ensure employees are competent to do their work
Engage and consult with employees on day-to-day health and safety conditions Implement emergency procedures – evacuation in case of fire or other significant incident.
Maintain safe and healthy working conditions, provide and maintain plant, equipment and machinery, and ensure safe storage / use of substances
