Employers are faced with an ever increasing amount of ‘jargon’, which they are often expected to just know.  We don’t think this is very fair – so our aim is to help de-mystify some of the weird and wonderful terminology and abbreviations you are likely to come across as a modern-day employer.

If you have any gems that are causing confusion and consternation, please do email them to us and we will include them (together with a translation) in this section.

Harassment

Harrassment is anything that violates a person’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment for an employee.  That includes jokes, graffiti, or employees being picked on or ostracised by other employees because of their gender (including sex, pregnancy, marital or civil partner status, gender re-assignment or sexual orientation), race (including ethnic origin, colour, nationality or national origin), disability, age, religion or belief. 

Employment Tribunal (ET)

Employment Tribunals resolve disputes between employees and employers over a variety of different matters.  They deal with complaints and appeals relating to employment, such as discrimination and wage disputes.  An employment tribunal consists of a legally qualified Chairman and two lay members with experience of work related problems

This protects your business against claims from employees for accidents or sickness they may suffer as a result of working for you.  It is a legal requirement for all employers.  The statutory minimum cover is £5M and you should display the certificate in any place of work.

These are low-charge pensions aimed at people who do not have access to an occupational pension or good-value personal pension.  Stakeholder pensions provide a way for your employees to save for their retirement.  Using their own money, together with tax relief and investment returns, your employees can buy a pension which will give them a regular income for life when they retire. 

If you have five or more employees, you may need to offer employees access to a stakeholder pension. 

Working Time Regulations (WTR)

Refer to rules on working time that fix the maximum average working week for most workers at 48 hours.  Some workers can agree voluntarily to forgo this limit, but you mustn’t put pressure on them to do so.  The regulations also cover minimum rest breaks, night working conditions and rules for young workers.