For individuals, not knowing your employment status means not knowing what employment rights you deserve: Human Resources Management Assignment, UOL, UK

Title

‘For individuals, not knowing your employment status means not knowing what employment rights you deserve. For businesses, this situation can lead to uncertainty about their responsibilities and what can be demanded from workers.’ (Law Society submission to The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices 2017). Discuss this statement with reference to current case law and consider whether there is a way to simplify this area of law.

Case Study

The Wonderful Biscuit Company

You are the newly appointed HR Manager for The Wonderful Biscuit Company which has a small factory in Dorchester and employs 105 people.

In November 2021* Tess, a production line worker walks out of the factory one morning. She subsequently sends the Managing Director an email, copying you in. She complains that others in the factory are not wearing masks and there is no social distancing. Her wife is expecting a baby and Tess is very fearful of catching Covid and passing it on to her. She is aware from gossip on the factory floor that some employees are not vaccinated. One employee, Felix, is saying that the vaccine is planting micro-chips and is advising others not to have it. Tess told Felix that he is ‘mad’. Felix has retaliated by saying that she is ‘weird’ as she is having a baby with a woman and that is ‘just not normal’. Tess states in her email that she is not coming back to work until it is ‘sorted’. She wants Felix to be sacked for his comments. She also wants a list of those unvaccinated so that she can ensure she does not work near them on the production line. She wants everyone working in the factory to wear masks.