Employment legislation’s primary goal is to define employees’ general expectations for their employers and to accomplish rights for all parties involved. The followings are the aims and objectives of employment law:

Fairness– According to CIPD (2022), fairness involves a procedure where employees’ interests are prioritized as they carry out their job responsibilities without discrimination. For Acenez Research Labs (ARL), the case study organisation, adopting fairness would ensure that the starting salaries for men and women were equal and safe from any claims being raised. The occurrences of discrimination and inequality are not allowed in contemporary work environment considering the stipulations of the Equality Act 2010 (Sánchez-Monedero et al., 2020). Further, through the provision of equal pay, there are successful provision of well-being aspects and fairness in distributing entire roles. Figure 1 shows the various employment regulations that have an impact on fairness.

Figure 1: Fairness and Employment Regulation

Government Policy Implementation– Regulations are used to control various entities, including governing governments’ operations, to ensure that labor markets are attained. The government in the UK case study, where Acenez Research Labs (ARL) is based, is mandated to set the appropriate employment contract forms and features, such as work hours (Khan et al., 2019). This is based on what Hudson et al. (2019) identify this as a practice adopted for protecting and directing employees in active performance of their roles.

Employee Protection– Dukes and Streeck (2020) notes this and mentions protecting staff from harm or malicious intent on the part of an entity. For instance, the National Minimum Wage Act of 1998 (Dube, 2019) protects workers from payment problems. Additionally, it is noted in the Working Time Regulations of 1998 (CIPD, 2023) that the amount of time allowed for working is 28 days when offered with total compensation. Further, the staff protection under Employment Rights 1998 Act from their denial owing to issues with work-life balance, flexible working strategy and family support strategy.

1.2 Role of tribunal and courts system in enforcing law; hierarchy

According to Al Junaibi (2021), tribunals and court systems are essential to enforcing employment law. The tribunals handle claims resulting from unfair or wrongful termination, unequal pay, and unexpected wage reduction. Contrarily, the court systems involve going through several stages while involving ACAS before going to the tribunal courts. The Early Conciliation Program is this (ACAS, 2023). Being a clear description, the Acenez Research Labs practices with the eventual judgement supporting unjust dismissal strategy (Elgoibar et al., 2019).

To enforce employment law, the tribunal and court systems process cases in distinct areas of consideration;

Figure 2: Court and Tribunal System Summary

Employment Tribunals– The inclusion of employees and employers are actively involved to pass an undertaking in employment tribunals. The evidence is on issues such as wrongful and unfair dismissal, discrimination informed by protected characteristics and equality in remuneration process.

Employment appeal Tribunal– It involves resolving visible conflicts in the working relationship and directing a successful transition (Bernstein, 2022). The cases handled here include those involving a lack of comprehension, the incorrect application of laws, the failure to pursue appropriate practices, the absence of evidence when making decisions, and unfair practices.

Court of Appeal– In this situation, cases involving Acenez Research Labs could be either civil or criminal. These situations also affect family obligations, which are given proper priority.

Supreme Court– Butler (2021) claims that in the United Kingdom, this is the highest court and tribunal system used to settle civil and criminal cases in nations like England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Cases involving Acenez Research Labs would be handled, including those that require a constitutional amendment and proper interpretation.

1.3 Employment cases settlement before start of legal proceedings

As shown in Guma and Dafydd Jones (2019), the case settled in proper legal processes in terms of legal settlement entails developing a contract that is enforceable by both the employee and the employer (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Steps of Settlement Agreements

For the ARL organization, for instance, this would present a chance for an employer-provided severance package in exchange for the employee’s promise not to pursue any claim in a tribunal or a court.

The Employee Rights Act of 1996, specifically section 203, illustrates the rules that regulate the settlement of agreements (Griffiths & Yeo, 2021). The role of ACAS Code of Practice on settlement agreement is to guide the employers and employees in settling agreement for resolving an issue or to end the employment. The documents required are in the following areas;

• Direct negotiation and signing of an agreement, even if the employees need legal counsel to make an agreement legally binding;

• Consent to the ACAS Conciliated settlement

• Hiring a private mediator;

• Using judicial mediation by having an employment judge participate in tribunal proceedings.

Settlement of agreement is identified as a compromise agreement applied for resolving or avoiding workplace legal disputes between an employee and their employer. The terms of contract termination are provided with agreed severance payment offered to employee in exchanging specific requirements. To settle agreements, ARL organization would ensure that employees with protected characteristics are not subject to discrimination. They include age, disability, maternity, pregnancy, race, religion, and sexual orientation. This also includes making allegations of automatic unfair dismissal for making a whistle blower report or bringing up health and safety concerns.

Task 2: Written Guidance

2.1 Principles of discrimination law

Please click the icon below to access this assessment in full