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Knowing your Rights

1. National Minimum Wage. All 18-21 year olds are entitled to a minimum wage of £3.20 per hour. From 22 years the rate goes up to £3.70 per hour (scheduled to increase to £4.10 from October 2001). Under 18's and volunteers are exempt from minimum wage legislation.
   
   Jobs that offer residential accommodation can make a compulsory charge for accommodation provided. This charge is currently limited to a maximum of £19.95 per week. Other services such as meals, uniform and laundry may also be charged providing these extra charges do not affect the national minimum wage rate.
   
   For further information visit the DTI National Minimum Wage web site at http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/nmw/
   
   
2. Working Time Regulations. All employers are required to ensure that their employees work within the working time regulations. These regulations cover hours of work, statutory time off, rest breaks and paid leave.
   
   Working hours should not exceed an average of 48 hours per week. This average is normally calculated over a 17 week period but can be extended to 26 or 52 weeks in certain circumstances (e.g. tourism businesses).
   
   Time off must be at least 1 whole day off per week averaged over a 2 week period (2 days per week for under 18's)
   
   Rest breaks at work must be a minimum of 20 minutes for every stretch of 6 hours or more worked (under 18's - 30 minutes for every 4.5 hours worked)
   
   Paid Leave is an entitlement for all employees that have completed 13 weeks employment. The statutory minimum is 4 weeks per annum. This may be calculated pro-rata for short-term temporary employment. There is no statutory entitlement to take leave on bank holidays.
   
   For further information visit the DTI Working Time Regulations web site at http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/work_time_regs/wtr0.htm
   
   
3. Part-time Workers Regulations. These regulations aim to ensure that all part-time workers have a statutory right to be treated no less favourably than comparable full-timers in their contractual terms and conditions.
   
   This means part-timers are entitled to the same rate of pay, the same leave entitlements and the same access to training.
   
   For further information visit the DTI Part-time Work web site at http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/ptime.htm

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