Employment Law: the Basics

2. Hours, Leave and Pay

2.1 You must comply with statutory requirements on working hours and leave (see Working time regulations).

• Most employees are entitled to work a 48 hour maximum average working week. Each employee can voluntarily agree to disapply the rules. Pressuring workers to agree to disapply the limit (eg by making it clear that only 'hard workers' will be promote) is a breach of the working time regulations.
• Any agreement must be in writing and signed by the worker.
• Employers may consult on and agree a system of annualised hours whereby the total number of hours worked do not exceed an average of 48 hours per week over a period of one year. This means that employees have to work their annual quota first before becoming entitled to overtime.
• There are detailed regulations on minimum rest periods.
• Employees are entitled to a minimum of 4.8 weeks' paid leave a year from October 2007.
• Employees can also be entitled to maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, parental leave and leave for family reasons. Parental leave and leave for family reasons are unpaid, and there are limits on how much can be taken and when (see Rights for working parents and carers).
• A parent or carer with a child under six, or a child with disabilities under 18 or a parent or carer of a dependent adult has the right to make a request for flexible working (see The law on flexible working).
• Part-time workers have the right to be treated no less favourably than full-timers. So, for instance, part-timers are entitled to holiday on a pro rata basis.

2.2 Employees have the right to the national minimum wage. This stands at £5.52 an hour for staff aged 22 and over.

• There is a lower minimum wage of £4.60 for those aged 18 to 21, and employees aged 16 and 17 - excluding apprentices - must be paid at least £3.40 an hour.

2.3 Employer's National Insurance (NI) contributions are payable on employees' pay and taxable benefits (see Tax and NI).

2.4 You must deduct your employees' tax and NI contributions from their wages, and pay them to HM Revenue & Customs under PAYE (Pay As You Earn). See Payroll.

2.5 You also have to account for employees' tax and NI on most benefits in kind.

• Some benefits are free of tax and NI (see Remuneration).

2.6 In general, you may not make deductions from an employee's wage packet unless you are required by law to do so, are recovering an overpayment of wages or have the employee's written agreement beforehand.