Agency and employment law Flashcards
What is agency?
The relationship between two persons: the agent and the principle
The purpose of the agent is to form contracts between the principle and a third party
Types of agency agreements
Express agreement: principle appoints the agent and gives them actual authority to act on their behalf
Implied agreement: Where it is assumed that the principle has given the agent authority to act on their behalf
Necessity: where an emergency arises which requires a person to project the interest of another
Agency by estroppel: where the principle’s words or actions give the impression that they consent to a person acting as an agent
Ratification: where an agency relationship is made retrospectively
What are the duties of an agent?
Duty to perform agreed tasks and follow instructions Duty to exercise care and skill Duty not to make a secret profit Duty not to take a bribe Duty to maintain confidentiality Duty to personally perform tasks Duty to account Duty to avoid a conflict of interest
What are the rights of an agent?
Right to remuneration (payment to be stated)
Right to a lien over the principle’s property
Right to claim indemnity (claim for expenses and losses in carrying out their duties)
What are the three types of employment status?
- Employee - someone who has an employment contract with an employer
- Self-employment
- Worker - someone that falls between the two
Employee and worker are covered under full protection of employment law
Worker cannot claim unfair/wrongful dismissal
What makes someone an employee?
control test - to what extent is the person under control of an employer?
Integration test - how much of their work is integrated into the core activities of the business?
Economic reality test - how much is the person working of their own account
Mutuality of obligation test - employer must give work, employee must accept
Describe the need for a ‘written statement of employment particulars’
An employee must be given one if their employment contract lasts at least a month or more
This isn’t an employment contract but will include the main conditions of employment
Must provide the written statement within 2 months of the start of the employmnet
What must a written statement must include?
The business’s name
The employment’s name, job title or description of work and start date
How much and how often an employer will get paid
Hours of work (if they have to work Sundays, nights, overtime)
Holiday entitlement (and if it includes public holidays
What are the types of termination(dismissal) of contracts
Wrongful dismissal - dismissal that is a breach of contract
Unfair dismissal - dismissal made for unfair reasons or not done reasonably
Constructive dismissal - where an employee is entitled to resign over employer’s behavior
What are the fair reasons for dismissal
- Capability - If they cannot do their jobs (qualifications, incompetence, heath)
- Conduct - Gross misconduct (extreme) or ordinary misconduct (warnings given)
- Redundancy - Employer doesn’t require the employee’s services
- Statutory bar - Legally can no longer do that job
- Other substantial reason - breakdown in working relationships
What are the conditions for constructive dismissal?
- The employer must have done something that is in breach of contract
- The employee decides to resign shortly after the breach
- The employee resigned purely because of this breach (serious or minor)
What law covers discrimination?
Covered in the equality act 2010
The act saw the creation of the equality and human rights commission (EHRC)
EHRC can investigate discrimination and take legal action, though most cases are bought by individuals against employers on a case-by-case basis
What are the protected characteristics?
Age Disability Marriage and civil partnership (but can be discriminated against being single) pregnancy/maternity Race Religion (or lack of) Sex/gender Sexual orientation
What are the main types of discrimination?
Direct discrimination - Being treated worse than another due to protected characteristic
Associative discrimination - Somebody is being discriminated against because of someone they are associated with
Perceptive discrimination - When you are discriminated against because people think you have a protected characteristic
Indirect discrimination - the person may not realize but is making the other persons life harder due to their protected characteristic
What is harassment and victimization?
Harassment - unwanted treatment towards another person that has the option or makes the target person feel intimidated, offended or degraded. This can be sexual, verbal (jokes and offensive language or physical. It also includes treating somebody less than favorably because they submitted to or rejected sexual harassment
Victimsation: occurs when a person makes a complaint about discrimination (or supports somebody else in their complaints ‘in good faith’) and is subsequently not treated as well as they would have otherwise been
