Employees

By law, all employees have a number of rights that have been carefully laid down to ensure that all individuals are treated fairly by their employers. These rights, set out in UK legislation, are called your statutory rights.

Employment rights

As an employee, your employment rights include:

• You must be given a contract either before you start work or on the day you start.
• You must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage (see below).
• You must receive an itemised payslip that provides a detailed breakdown of your pay and any deductions.
• Health and safety laws include the rights to daily and weekly rest breaks- a daily rest period of at least 20 minutes if the working day exceeds 6 hours and at least one full day off during every 7 days. 
• Health and safety laws also state that employers have a statutory duty to take care of the health and safety of their employees by providing a clean environment to work in, first aid equipment, protective clothing, drinking water and washing facilities and ensuring all machinery is safe.
• You cannot be made to work more than an average of 48 hours per week but you can agree to work more than an average 48 hours if you want to (you cannot be forced to do this).
• You have the right to a certain amount of paid holiday each year. As a full-time employee you are entitled to 5.6 weeks paid leave per year. Part time workers receive pro-rata entitlement.
• You should not be harassed, victimised, treated unfairly at work or given dismissal notice if you file a complaint or expose suspected wrongdoing in their workplace.
• You must not be discriminated against in the workplace. This applies to all forms of discrimination including age, disability, sex, race, sexual orientation and religious beliefs.

Think about your current/ future employer and look out for sign of good or bad employment practices:

• Read through employment contracts carefully
• Clear communication from the start about the job expectations, salary, conditions etc.
• The company makes everyone feel a valued member of the team
• Has workplace health and safety provisions
• Encourages and supports staff development
• Provide regular, constructive feedback and opportunities for communication so difficulties can be resolved.

National Minimum Wage

Age	23 and over	21 to 22	18 to 20	Under 18
April 2023 (previous)	£10.42	£10.18	£7.49	£5.28
Age	21 and over		18 to 20	Under 18
April 2024 (new rates)	£11.44		£8.60	£6.40

The annual increase in National Minimum Wage helps employees afford rising costs of living, but don’t assume you’re being paid the correct amount:

• Make sure you know the new rates.
• Check you’re getting paid the correctly with the National Minimum Wage and Living Wage calculator for workers.
• Record all hours that you work and make sure it’s clear how overtime is accounted for. This will be included in your contract with your employer.
• If you’re not being paid the National Minimum Wage you can speak to your manager to try to resolve this, or call the Acas helpine for free confidential advice, or submit a complaint to HMRC.
• If you are a groom or member of yard staff membership of the British Grooms Association will provide you with access to specific advice on how the National Minimum Wage is calculated for your role.

Be prepared to ensure you get the new National Minimum Wage rates in 2025, check the details here.

Maximum working hours

According to the ‘working time regulations’, staff cannot work more than an average of 48 hours a week over a 17 week period, although, they can choose to opt-out of the 48 hour work week. For those under 18, it is no more than an average of 40 hours a week over a 17 week period.

Find out more about maximum weekly working hours.

It is up to your employer to ensure there are a sufficient number of paid staff to complete all work required whilst building in substantial breaks during the day.

Health & Safety

Your employer must provide a safe working environment.

Employees have:

• The right to a safe workplace – employees have the right to work in an environment where risks to their health and safety are properly controlled. Employers must provide a safe working environment and manage risks to employees’ health and safety, this includes the risk of stress. Employers also have a legal duty to prevent work-related stress and support good mental health at work.
• The right to information – employees have the right to be informed about health and safety matters that affect them. This includes being told about workplace hazards, risks identified through risk assessments and the measures that are in place to control those risks.
• The right to training – Employees have the right to be given adequate training on the health and safety procedures and practices that are relevant to their role. This training should cover how to work safely, the proper use of equipment and machinery, and emergency procedures.
• The right to refuse unsafe work – employees have the right to refuse to work if they believe there is a serious and imminent danger to their health and safety or that of others. Employees also have a right not to be disciplined for refusing to work or for contacting the HSE about these concerns.

Employees have their part to play in health & safety and all employees have a legal duty to take reasonable care of their own health and safety, as well as that of others who may be affected by their actions at work. This responsibility includes cooperating with their employer on health and safety matters, attending training sessions and adhering to safety guidelines to protect themselves and others from harm.

Bullying and Harassment.

Bullying and harassment are problems that can affect employees in the workplace. Both bullying and harassment are unacceptable, and the law makes it clear that all employees have the right to work in a safe environment.

Your employer is responsible for creating and maintaining a safe workplace, free from bullying, intimidation and harassment. Employees are protected by a combination of employers’ policies and legislation.

Bullying includes:

• offensive, intimidating, malicious, or insulting behaviour;
• abuse of authority which violates the dignity of an individual or a group of people;
• creating a hostile environment against an individual;
• the undermining, humiliation or injury of an individual.

The bullying does not need to relate to a protected characteristic (discussed below) but unless it does, or is of a sexual nature, it is not prohibited by the Equality Act 2010.

What is harassment?

Harassment is defined as unwanted conduct that has the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of people in the workplace or of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

To be protected under the Equality Act it must be related to gender reassignment, disability, age, sex (or be of a sexual nature), sexual orientation, race, religion or belief (and in Northern Ireland political opinion) or nationality. It may be an isolated incident or come up again and again.

Harassment includes bullying if it relates to one of the protected characteristics listed above. A key factor in determining whether harassment has occurred is whether the actions or comments are viewed as demeaning and unacceptable to the recipient.

A few examples of bullying/harassment could include:

• making offensive or intimidating comments;
• withholding information so the job cannot be done properly;
• unreasonable or impossible deadlines or workloads;
• overbearing supervision or unjust criticism;
• blocking opportunities or making threats about job security.

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is an unwanted conduct that is sexual in nature which violates your dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, or offensive environment for you.

Sexual harassment is serious, regardless of how your organisation or others react and it is against the law for someone at work to treat you unfairly because of the way you have reacted to sexual harassment.

If you or someone you know is affected by bullying and harassment, you can get help and support from the following organisations:

• If your employer is a member of one of British Equestrian’s member bodies you can contact the relevant member body or British Equestrian via our report a concern form.
• If your employer is not a member of a member body you can get support from one or more of the following:
  • Acas- discrimination and bullying
  • Sexual harassment at work – legal advice telephone helpline provided by Charity Rights of Women
  • The Equality & Human Rights Commission is an independent statutory body with the responsibility to encourage equality and diversity, eliminate unlawful discrimination, and protect and promote the human rights of everyone in Britain. They enforce equality legislation on age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation – these are known as protected characteristics.

Further Useful information

Acas is an independent public body that receives funding from the government. They provide free and impartial advice to employers, employees and their representatives on employment rights, best practice and policies and resolving workplace conflict. When things go wrong, they help to resolve workplace disputes between employers and employees.

The British Grooms Association (BGA) is a member body of British Equestrian which exists to support members throughout their career as a groom, providing support, advice and education to all working in the industry and to speak up on the issues that really matter. 

The Health & Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety.

The National Bullying Helpline provides information and advice for anyone dealing with bullying.