Employment
Employment Relations Act 2007 with a specialist tribunal and court
The Employment Relations Act 2007 is the single code for contracts, minimum terms, union rights and dismissal, enforced through the Employment Relations Tribunal and the Employment Relations Court.
Key rules
- Deadline — An unfair dismissal grievance must be lodged within 21 days of the dismissal
- Deadline — Written particulars of employment must be given to the worker
Governing law
- Employment Relations Act 2007 (s. 33)
- Health and Safety at Work Act 1996
- National Minimum Wage regulations
- Workmen's Compensation Act 1964
In practice
The Act sets a national minimum wage supplemented by sectoral wage regulation orders, so the floor depends on the industry as well as the national rate. Dismissal must be both substantively justified and procedurally fair, and the 21-day grievance window is short enough that it is the most common reason a worker loses an otherwise good claim. The Tribunal handles most individual grievances with the Employment Relations Court above it; certain essential-services disputes follow a separate track with restrictions on industrial action.