5OS01: After meeting with Charlotte and Madeleine, you have some concerns and decide that you must provide them with detailed written advice on how to proceed with each of the matters below: Specialist employment law, Assignment, UOL, UK

Task

After meeting with Charlotte and Madeleine, you have some concerns and decide that you must provide them with detailed written advice on how to proceed with each of the matters below. To help the reader, please make use of headings and assessment criteria references to signpost the assessment criteria being addressed. You decide to:

1. Evaluate the aims and objectives of employment regulation. (AC 1.1)

2. Examine the role played by the tribunal and courts system in enforcing employment law. (AC 1.2)

3. Explain how cases are settled before and during legal procedures. (AC 1.3) And provide tailored advice for each of the following scenarios:

4. Charlotte and Madeleine are aware discrimination legislation exists. They are unsure how this might affect their approach to recruitment and selection of employees for their two new branch openings. They want to avoid dealing with retirement and do not want their business disrupted by employees taking maternity leave. To overcome this, they decide to appoint young men. Advise them on the decision of appointing young men only. (AC 2.1)

5. Cat, a restaurant manager, has recently become aware that she is paid less than Kit, another manager who is male. Her salary is £28,000 a year, whereas Kit earns £30,000 a year. She asked Charlotte to increase her salary to match Kit’s, but she refused saying Kit deserved the extra money. (AC 2.2)

6. The lease on an existing site is due to expire in four months’ time and the new terms are prohibitively expensive. Charlotte and Madeleine decide to close the restaurant when the lease expires, rather than renew the lease. When the restaurant closes, they intend to dismiss all six employees, paying each person two weeks’ notice as stated in their contracts of employment:

a. Angelica, the manager (eight years’ service, 53 years old, salary £700 per week)

b. Saffron, the supervisor (five years’ service, 30 years old, salary £350 per week)

c. Chip and Cherry, full-time sales assistants, who are 18 years old, and Reese and Carmel, full-time sales assistants who are 19 years old. All four employees have one year’s service, are paid £9.00 per hour and work 25 hours a week)

Advise why their approach is risky and what they should do instead. (AC 3.1)

7. The takeover of Crumbly Cakes is due to be complete in four months. Ownership will transfer to Peachy Desserts Ltd, and the identity of the owner will change. Charlotte and Madeleine consider the takeover a ‘good fit’ with their business, as the nature of the business is the same and they will take over all tangible assets. Charlotte and Madeleine do not dispute that Peachy Desserts Ltd will become the employer of the 12 employees of Crumbly Cakes but plan to give the employees of Crumbly Cakes new contracts on the same terms and conditions as their existing employees. Advise on the legal risk of this approach and what should be done instead. (AC 3.2)

8. Charlotte and Madeleine are aware there are changes to the National Minimum Wage each year. They firmly believe that all sales assistants work hard regardless of age and as such should be paid the same. All sales assistants are currently paid £9.00 per hour. They want to check their approach is lawful and wonder whether there are any rights related to pay statements they need to comply with. (AC 4.1)

9. Charlotte has received a complaint from Kit, manager of a restaurant that trades seven days a week. Kit states his working hours are too long, and that he does not have adequate breaks or sufficient days off. He normally works five days a week from 9.30am to 9.30pm but when his supervisor is on holiday, he must cover their days off. Advise on whether Kit has a legal cause for complaint, with reference to employment law. (AC 4.2)

10. Coco, a restaurant manager with eight years’ service, was delighted to inform Charlotte and Madeleine that she is pregnant and that her baby is due in six months’ time. Charlotte, who took two weeks off after the birth of her baby, is unhappy at the disruption this will cause but is happy to let Coco book two weeks’ annual leave to coincide with the birth of her baby. Charlotte feels a small business cannot afford the maternity leave and maternity pay that a larger organisation could offer, and she knows from experience that two weeks off is sufficient. Advise Charlotte and Madeleine on Coco’s maternity rights. You are concerned about Charlotte and Madeleine’s lack of knowledge in this area and decide to add a brief overview of paternity and adoption rights in case they make mistakes in this area too. (AC 4.3)

11. Chelsea, a restaurant manager, has made a flexible working request and wants to change from working full-time to working three days a week. Charlotte informs you she will let Chelsea know that Peachy Desserts Ltd ‘don’t do’ flexible working and if she does not like it, she should leave and find a part-time job somewhere else. Advise Charlotte and Madeleine of the risks of their approach and what they should do instead. (AC 4.4)

You should relate to academic concepts, theories, and professional practice throughout your advice to ensure that your work is critical and informed by using statute, case law, and relevant publications. All cited references used should be correctly acknowledged and presented in full in a bibliography at the end of your report.