For general information on issues relating to the right to holiday and holiday pay during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, see Practice Note: Coronavirus (COVID-19)—holiday and holiday pay [Archived]. The calculation of holiday pay under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR 1998), SI 1998/1833 has remained unchanged during the coronavirus pandemic; the amendments set out in the Employment Rights Act 1996 (Coronavirus, Calculation of a Week’s Pay) Regulations 2020 (Week’s Pay Amendments Regs 2020), SI 2020/814 do not apply in respect of calculation of holiday pay. Under the WTR 1998, SI 1998/1833, reg 16, during any period of statutory holiday a worker is entitled to be paid at the rate of a ‘week’s pay’ for each week of holiday, calculated in accordance with sections 221–224 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) (with certain modifications). Different methods

Section 2 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (MeHA 1983) makes provision for a patient to be admitted to a hospital and detained there after an application for admission for assessment has been successfully made, for the purposes of assessing their mental health. MeHA 1983, s 3 makes provision for a patient to be admitted to a hospital and detained there, after an application for admission for treatment has been successfully

Employers generally agree the basic rate and frequency at which they will pay their employees. Any details agreed at the start of employment must be recorded in the written statement of particulars, as should any changes subsequently agreed (see ‘Written statement of employment particulars’, below). While the contract provides the starting point for determining the employer’s obligations in this area, this will be subject to a number of significant statutory rights that govern a worker’s pay, such as the right to receive the national minimum wage (see, ‘National minimum wage (NMW)’, below). A worker also has the right to receive a written, itemised pay statement each time they are paid (see, ‘Pay statements’, below). For further information, see:

Under the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999 (MAPLE 1999), SI 1999/3312, subject to an earlier start being triggered where childbirth occurs, an employee’s ordinary maternity leave (OML) period starts with the earlier of: • the date she notified to her employer as her intended maternity leave start date under a standard notice or, if she varied that date, the last date she notified (in either case

An employee has the right: • not to be subjected to a detriment, and • not to be dismissed on various grounds relating to health and safety. See sections 44 and 100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996). For further guidance generally, see Practice Note: Health and safety—protection from detriment and dismissal. There is no minimum qualifying period of employment required to bring a claim (see ERA 1996, s 108(3)) and no maximum limit on the amount of compensation that can be awarded in such health and safety cases (see ERA 1996, s 124(1A)). The health and safety grounds include leaving work in the face of serious or imminent danger. It is unlawful to subject any worker to a detriment, and any dismissal of an employee will be automatically

The right to dismiss without notice (summarily) Either party to a contract of employment may treat the contract as terminable without notice by reason of the conduct of the other party, ie: • in the case of an employer, to terminate the contract summarily for gross misconduct by the employee • in the case of an employee, to resign without notice if the employer is in repudiatory breach of contract Normal rules of contract law also allow the parties to agree when the contract will terminate without notice in the absence of a repudiatory breach, (see eg clause 22 of Precedent: Employment contract for senior employee). However, in the case of an employment contract, statute and case law qualify this basic proposition as follows: • any termination under this clause will not affect the employee’s

Where an employee is ‘engaged under an umbrella contract’ (ie they perform their duties on an assignment basis, but the contract of employment subsists during the gaps between those assignments) but has not conducted any work for them (ie not any actual engagement), this should not constitute work for the purposes of the Immigration Rules. See the explanation below. For ‘umbrella contracts’, see Practice Note: Employee status/Mutuality of obligation. The Practice Note: Conditions of permission to enter or stay in the UK in the section ‘The scope of conditions of permission/Work or occupation restrictions’ states as follows: ‘The work or occupation restrictions can range from a prohibition on doing any kind of paid or unpaid work to more specific restrictions. Examples include permitting work only in certain

In the normal course, the types of disciplinary sanction, and the provisions governing how and in what circumstances they will be applied, are decided by the employer and set out in its disciplinary procedure. A graduated system of warnings is usually provided for in relation to first offences for which summary dismissal is not appropriate (in accordance with the disciplinary framework promoted in the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures (the Acas Code). The provisions of the Acas Code should be carefully considered when it comes to dealing with disciplinary issues in the workplace. Whilst a failure to follow the Acas Code will not, of itself, give rise to liability, a tribunal may take it into account when considering relevant cases. The types of 'disciplinary' action set out in the Acas Code are: • written warning • final written

UPDATE: Since this Q&A was first published on 3 April 2020, the HMRC guidance for employers: Claim for your employees’ wages through the coronavirus job retention scheme and guidance for employees: Check if your employer can use the coronavirus job retention scheme (first published on 26 March) has been updated on 4 April, 9 April and 15 April 2020. For information on the position as at 15 April 2020, see: Update (15 April 2020) below. For further information on these updates, see: • HMRC publishes updated employer and employee guidance on Coronavirus (COVID-19) job retention scheme • HMRC publishes second update to employer and employee guidance on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Job Retention Scheme, and • Treasury gives legal effect to Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and updates guidance

Consideration may need to be given to: • the contractual right to notice • the reason for dismissal, for the purposes of section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) • the right to a statutory redundancy payment Contractual notice At common law, dismissal may be effected without good cause; the implied term of trust and confidence does not import an obligation upon an employer to exercise a contractual right to dismiss fairly or in good faith. Once given, notice may not be withdrawn unilaterally, except

Under sections 80A–80E of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) and the Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations 2002 (PAL Regs 2002), SI 2002/2788, employees are entitled to paternity leave (SPL) in certain circumstances relating to the birth or placement for adoption of a child or children. Separately, employees are given a statutory right to paternity pay (SPP), as provided for in Part XIIZA of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (SSCBA 1992). Conditions of entitlement to SPP are not the same as those relating to SPL, although there is a significant overlap. For further information, generally, see Practice Note: Paternity leave and pay. For further information about eligibility requirements for SPL, see Practice Note: Paternity leave and pay, under the main

In common industrial parlance, a 'lay-off' occurs when the employer temporarily shuts down its operation because it cannot find any or enough work for its employees. For further information, see the section of Practice Note: Redundancy payments for lay-offs and short-time,