Working Rights
It’s important to know your rights and here are 4 steps to help you know your working statues and what to do is an issue happens.
Step 1: Determine Your Status
Employment status in the UK is based on the basis of practice. Whenever a dispute arises tribunals take note of things like: who decides how work is done, how regal is payment or who provides materials. Only a tribunal can determine your status.
Step 2: Your Work Rights
In the UK, your employment rights and tax depends on your employment status. Some rights are for all others are only for workers and employees. Once you have your status you can see below that your rights are. You can contact working rights centre or ACAS for details of each right.
Everyone in the UK has responsibility to pay income tax and national insurance. There are done by and employer. If you are self-employed you have the duty to report your earnings and pay tax to HMRC.
There is also the black market where no tax or national insurance are paid. This is often due to tax evasion, like hiding earnings from HMRC. There are risks to working the black market like; losing access to a pension, losing access to benefits, EU administrative removal and fines.
How to exit work on the black market?
Step 3 Learn To Claim Your Rights
- Talk to your Boss – Once you have seen any employment rights breached, you can address it in a conversation with your boss. Make note of all the dates you have conversations and your boss’s response.
- Gather Evidence – If it does not improve, gather enough evidence about the issues to move into the written stage. Make note of start dates, when the issue happened, your line managers name, if anyone else is involved. Provide as much facts with evidence, messages, emails. Pictures, witnesses.
- Write a Letter before action – In your letter say what your position is; when you started what you do how you feel. Detail your issue and how you have try to solve it. Make clear suggestions of how you expect the issue to be solved. Provide a timeline of when you expect your boss to address your issues by. Then denial the future steps you will take if nothing is done.
- Send it via recorded delivery – send you letter to your boss and get it recorded delivery.
- Take future action – Self-employed people will have to go to a small claims court. Workers/employees can contact ACAS to find out what your rights are and who to contact.
Step 4: Improve your Employability
While casual work is good to get quick cash, finding a good job means you have more stability and security in the long term. You are more protected and offers that chance to develop your career.
You can do this by improving your CV or taking a free course. At Free2Learn, we can help you get back into a security job with our courses free for anyone unemployed, on job seekers or employment support allowance. You can see our range of courses here.
If you are in Manchester you can go to:
Manchester Central Library 2n Floor
St Peter’s Square, Manchester
M2 5PD
Every Saturday 10:30am until 5pm
For drop in employment rights, CV building and Job searching with Work Rights Centre
