Understand Employment Responsibilities & Rights - Level 2 Award

In the health and social care sectors both employees and employers need to be familiar with the rights and responsibilities to each other that need to be respected and upheld for a successful working relationship is to exist between them. The following employment rights apply to everyone in a health or social care setting:

• Health and safety at work acts
• The provision of terms and conditions of employment
• Equal opportunities
• The right to be paid a minimum wage.

About Health and Safety

The Health and Safety at Work Acts apply to both health and social care organisations and their employees.

Employees are expected to perform their duties in a way that protects their own safety as well as that of their colleagues, people in their care and visitors to their work place. Employees are expected to abide by rules and guidelines provided by their employers with regard to the proper and appropriate use of equipment in the work place and the safe handling and storage of medicines and hazardous substances or materials.

Health and social care organisations are legally obliged to provide a variety of measures relating to health and safety such as:

• provide adequate health and safety training
• providing safe machinery and equipment
• take all necessary measures to providing a safe work environment
• carrying out regular health and safety checks
• carrying out a risk assessments to assess and identify potential health and safety risks
• provide correct equipment and storage facilities for medicines and other hazardous substances they may use in their workplace.

About Legal Obligations

All employees are entitled to have their employment terms and conditions provided in writing that should detail:

• when their work starts
• what their job role is
• who they are accountable to
• their rate of pay, and any other entitlements such as pension and holiday allowance.

In health and social care organisations, equal opportunities legislation stipulates that all employees should receive the same rate of pay and conditions if they carry out the same or similar tasks as part of their job role.

Equal opportunities also refers to and abides by the laws against racial, sexual and disability discrimination. Health and social care organisations are legally obliged to pay no less than the hourly rate specified in the Minimum Wage Act which is regularly reviewed and increases over time to keep pace with the rate of inflation. Employers must also obey the European Union requirements that limit the maximum number of hours that employees can be expected to work in a normal working week.