List of Employment Laws in the UK

Why does employment law exist?

What does employment law cover?

The types of employee rights in the UK

What are the most important health and safety laws?

What are the three basic employment rights for a worker in health and safety?

It is essential that, as an employer, you are knowledgeable about employment legislation and laws. There are several acts and laws that protect employees' and workers' wellbeing in the workplace.

Let’s look at what employment law covers, as well as the reasons for it to exist in the first place.

If you need immediate support, get in touch with one of the Croner experts by calling 01455 858 132.

What is employment law?

It is legislation that governs employer and employee relations, including trade unions. Many of the laws look to outline and protect UK workers’ and employees' rights. We find employment rights in the UK in various acts, regulations, laws and statutory code of practice.

As an employer, you must ensure your business abides by current employment laws and regulations; it’s vital to have a thorough understanding of your obligations.

Failing to follow these correctly and violating employee rights in the UK could allow staff to bring claims to an employment tribunal.

Why does employment law exist?

The law exists to regulate relationships and interactions between employers and their employees. Work regulations aim to ensure a fair process is held in all areas of the business, be that in recruitment or dismissals.

Without workplace laws and legislation, UK workers could suffer unfavourable treatment at the hands of their employers and have no way of resolving an employment-related challenge or issue. So, employment laws for employees in the UK are very important.

What does employment law cover?

It covers a wide range of issues relating to the work environment and processes. Here are some examples of what’s covered by employment law — including:

• Age discrimination.
• Bullying and harassment.
• Disability.
• Discrimination based on race, religion, sexuality or gender.
• Dismissal and employee grievances.
• Employment contracts.
• Equal pay.
• Holiday pay.
• Minimum wage.
• Parental leave.

Having a list of key employment legislations that apply in the UK, and understanding these, is a great way for you to keep on top of them. There are a core set of acts that embody the main parts of employment law.

By regularly reminding yourself of these laws and your responsibilities as an employer, you are far less likely to break them inadvertently and run the legal and financial risks in that event.

Here are the most important pieces of employment law legislation and key information on these laws.

• Employment Rights Act 1996: An update to older Labour Law, this act covers the rights of employees in situations such as dismissal, paternity leave, maternity leave and redundancy.
• National Minimum Wage Act 1998: This act sets out the NMW for employees and employers across the UK. The Government regularly reviews this to keep it in line with inflation, etc.
• Employment Relations Act 1999: Establishes several rights at work for trade union recognition, derecognition, and industrial actions.
• The Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999: Statutory legislation that governs the rights of employees to time off work for family related leave.
• Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000: A UK labour law measure that requires employers to give people on part-time contracts comparable treatment to people on full-time contracts who do the same jobs.
• Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006: Protection of existing employees' rights and any employment contracts when a company goes through a business transfer.
• The Equality Act 2010: An act that prevents discrimination in the workplace and the recruitment process. This sets out the ways in which people are protected from less favourable treatment and on what grounds e.g. Disability, age, sex etc.
• The Employment Rights Act 2025: This is the most recent major update to UK employment law, receiving Royal Assent on 18 December 2025 (just before the current date in January 2026). It introduces significant reforms and amendments to existing legislation, including many updates to the Employment Rights Act 1996 itself.
• Agency Workers Regulations 2010: The regulations set out the rights of agency workers. An agency worker is entitled to the same basic working and employment conditions as direct recruits of the hirer organisation once they have worked on the same assignment for 12 weeks.
• Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023: The Act amends the Equality Act 2010 to impose a new duty on employers. An employer must take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees in the course of their employment. This preventative duty applies from 26 October 2024. Where an employment tribunal finds the duty has been breached in a successful harassment claim, it may increase any award of compensation by up to 25%.

The types of employee rights in the UK

An employee’s rights are determined by their employment status. This can be determined by a few factors:

• Who pays your (the business's) tax.
• The type of employment.
• Method of payment.

The factors are whether there is mutuality of obligation, control, whether they provide a personal service.

There are three main types of employment status under the law:

1. Employee: They carry out the work themselves, the employer is in control of the employee, and there is mutuality of obligation.
2. Worker: A worker has a contract whereby an individual undertakes to perform work or services for the employer; they are required to carry out the work themselves. No obligation for employer to offer work or for the worker to accept the work offered.
3. Self-employed: Someone who is self-employed is either not required to provide personal service or they are carrying on a business on their own account and the other party is a client or customer.

This shows that, whilst not strictly employment law, these rights and acts influence employee and employer relationships.

For example, dismissal for refusal to work in an unsafe environment would be unlawful under health and safety rather than employment law.

Employee rights

As an employee, individuals have rights set out by employment law.

These can include:

• A right to written terms which outline their job rights and responsibilities, start date, job title, rate of pay, holiday and holiday pay entitlement, notice periods, place of work, benefits/remuneration, paid leave etc.
• The right to sick, holiday and maternity, paternity, and adoption leave pay.
• The right to claim redundancy and unfair dismissal after 2 years of service.

Worker’s rights

Workers have a limited set of employment rights. They are slightly different to employees but are still protected by many of the same laws. These can include:

• A right to written terms which outline their job rights and responsibilities. 
• The right to national minimum wage.
• The right to paid holiday.
• Payslips.
• Protection against unlawful discrimination.

Rights for the self-employed

Despite the nature of the employment type, those who are self-employed are still protected by laws and legislation. This is not as comprehensive as the previous two, but there are still several requirements that should be considered.

They are as follows:

• Protection for worker health and safety on a client's premises.
• Protection against discrimination.

What are the most important health and safety laws?

Whilst not directly employment law, health and safety legislation also affects employer and employee relationships. You need to understand your responsibilities towards health and safety in the workplace when navigating employee issues.

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 is the primary piece of legislation covering occupational health and safety measures in Great Britain. It's sometimes referred to as HSWA, the HSW Act, the 1974 Act or HASAWA.

These acts place a duty on employers to protect their health, safety and welfare whilst at work. This applies to all of those on the premises, be those workers, temporary workers or even clients and the public.

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) was set up under HASAWA. It enforces these duties and penalises non-compliance.

What are the three basic employment rights for a worker in health and safety?

The various acts and employment legislation outline that all employees and workers have three basic rights when it comes to health and safety in the workplace.

1. The right to know: Employers must ensure they make their employees or workers aware of the hazards presented by people, equipment, the environment or working processes. And they should receive training and information about dangerous aspects of the workplace.
2. The right to participate: Employees may be involved in identifying, assessing and controlling health and safety hazards.
3. The right to refuse unsafe work: It also allows them to refuse work they believe is likely to endanger themselves or others. The act protects workers from reprisal should they refuse.

This shows that, whilst not strictly employment law, these rights and acts influence employee and employer relationships.

For example, dismissal for refusal to work in an unsafe environment would be unlawful under health and safety rather than employment law.

What is the main piece of health and safety legislation?

While not directly employment law, health and safety legislation also affects employer and employee relationships. You need to understand your responsibilities towards health and safety in the workplace when navigating employee issues.

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 is the primary piece of legislation covering occupational health and safety measures in Great Britain. It's sometimes referred to as HSWA, the HSW Act, the 1974 Act or HASAWA.

These acts place a duty on employers to protect their health, safety and welfare while at work. This applies to all of those on the premises, be that workers, temps or even clients and the general public.

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) was set up under HASAWA. It enforces these duties and penalises non-compliance.

What are the 3 basic employment rights for a worker in health and safety?

The various acts and employment legislation outline that all employees or workers have 3 basic rights when it comes to health and safety in the workplace.

1. The right to know: Employers must ensure they make their employees or workers aware of the hazards presented by people, equipment, the environment or the processes. And they may receive training and information about dangerous aspects of the workplace.
2. The right to participate: Employees may be involved in identifying, assessing and controlling health and safety hazards.
3. The right to refuse unsafe work: It also allows them to refuse work they believe is likely to endanger themselves or others. The act protects workers from reprisal should they refuse.

This shows that, while not strictly employment law, these rights and acts have an effect on employee and employer relationships.

For example, dismissal for refusal to work in an unsafe environment would be unlawful under health and safety rather than employment law.

Other important legislation

There are also several other pieces of UK employment legislation that, although not solely related to employment law, contain key employment law information. These are:

• Bribery Act 2010: Covers the criminal law relating to any act of bribery. It’s a serious issue in any working environment that requires vigilance to avoid.
• Data Protection Act 2018: A national law complementing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018. It regulates how your business processes employee and customer information.
• Working Time Regulations 1998: Generally thought of as health & safety legislation. But it still contains important rules you should follow, particularly the working hours and holidays that staff are entitled to.

Other important legislation to note

There are also several other pieces of UK employment legislation that, although not solely related to employment law, contain key employment law information. These are:

• Bribery Act 2010: Covers the criminal law relating to any act of bribery. It’s a serious issue in any working environment that requires vigilance to avoid.
• Data Protection Act 2018: A national law complementing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018. It regulates how your business processes employee and customer information.
• Working Time Regulations 1998: Generally thought of as health & safety legislation. But, it still contains important rules you should follow, particularly the working hours and holidays that staff are entitled to.

Need our help?

If you require any legal advice, get in touch for immediate assistance with any employment law, HR, or Health & Safety queries at 01455 858 132.