Module Name:               Employment Law

Minimum 35 references – 2 copies needed

No older than 2014

Critically do the work

Coursework Title:

Answering E-Mails

Task Details/Description:

You are an HR Manager in a UK based company. Today you have received the following five e-mails. Write a response to each of them. In your response you must refer to relevant case law and statute. You must give clear recommendations.

The word limit for the coursework is 3000 words. This does not have to be split equally amongst the five responses.

Email 1: From the Sales Manager

As we have discussed before, we do need to extend the hours that the call centre is open due to customer complaints about our hours of availability. So, I have consulted with the team about working shifts to cover the hours of 8am to 8pm, instead of the hours of 9am to 6pm which they currently work. Most of the employees have agreed, but six have objected. Of these three employees are saying that they cannot work until 8pm because they have children in nursery, and the nursery closes at 6.30pm. The other three say that they do not want to change their hours, and that we cannot force them because their contracts say that they work from 9am to 6pm. What should I do?

Email 2: From the Finance Manager

We always have a busy time at the end of the tax year, and this year was no exception. Now, three months later, one of our Accountants has sent in a sick note saying that she is absent due to ‘stress’. She has also written to me to say that she is going to take a claim for personal injury, due to the stress that she suffered from working long hours for the six weeks at the end of the tax year. I know that she also struggled because her son has been quite ill, and her marriage has broken down. Will her claim be successful?

Email 3: From the Operations Manager

Amelia is one of our Account Managers. For some time she has been complaining about one of our key customers, who keeps asking her to go out with him, and has made a number of sexual advances towards her. Today the customer made some very explicit sexual comments to her, and she responded by swearing at him and being quite rude. He has made a formal complaint, and has insisted that we dismiss her. What should we do?

Email 4: From the Administration Manager

As you know, I am responsible for the reception area and our Managing Director is always very particular about the image we portray there. I have had two applicants for a vacant Receptionist role. One is disabled, with a facial disfigurement. I do not think that she has the appropriate image, so can I reject her? Also, another applicant wears a hijab and that does not really fit with our image. Can I reject her as well?

Email 5: From the Sales Manager

Katerina is pregnant, and has asked to cut down on the amount of travelling that she does in her sales role. She typically travels up to 1000 miles a week. She cannot do her job properly without travelling, so it is acceptable to tell her that she cannot reduce her travelling? Also, she tells me that she wants to come back part-time when she returns from maternity leave, and I do not want her to do that. Can I refuse?

Module Learning Outcomes Assessed:

1. By the end of this module, students will be able to:
2.  
3. Understand the core principles that underpin employment law in the UK.
4.  
5. Advise colleagues about significant legal implications of decisions, plans and proposals in the area of employment
6.  
7. Advise about appropriate action that should be taken in scenarios that occur in the workplace.
8.  
9. Take a leading role in determining an appropriate response when legal action is anticipated, threatened or taken.
10.  
11. Participate in the preparation, presentation and settling of employment tribunal cases.
12.  
13. Continuously demonstrate up-to-date knowledge of developments in employment law, and be able to advise about the implications of these developments.

Presentation Requirements:

Word Count: 3000 words. This does not have to be split equally between each of the answers.

Assessment Weighting for the Module:

100%

Assessment Criteria

Students should:

• Show an understanding of the relevant legal issues. Students are expected to identify all of the relevant issues, and not to add in issues that are not relevant.
• Refer to relevant statute
• Apply relevant case law. Students should not just name a relevant case. They should apply the case, so that the relevance of the case is clear
• Give clear recommendations, based on the legal analysis that has been completed.