7ELW Employment Law

Module Overview

7ELW, Employment Law, is a unit in the CIPD level 7 model that focuses on providing HR professionals with an understanding of the legal frameworks that guide employer-employee engagement. The unit focuses on providing the principles and guidelines within the UK employment law that may influence the development of people practices within the organisations.

There are different legal principles that need to be applied by HR professionals in the development of people practices. Some of the main legal principles include equality and fairness, regulated compensation and payments and the safety measures that have been put in place within the organisation.On top of that, the legal frameworks guide the engagement with trade unions and the guidelines to fair dismissal processes within the organisation.

This unit examines the issues that are related to employment law that could arise within the organisation and compromise its compliance to the set laws within the jurisdiction of the company. Understanding the legal system and the frameworks that have been put in place to guide the employment relations is an important step in ensuring that the management can design their policies and approaches to suit the requirements of the law within their setting and avoid conflicts or legal suits.

Module Objectives

Employment law is an important area of study for any professional. The unit aims at ensuring that the people professionals are provided with an overview of the legal systems within their setting. Upon the completion of the unit, the learners should be able to:

• Show understanding of the legal frameworks and the regulations that govern the employment relationships within the UK and international contexts.

• Understand the role that the legal frameworks play in protecting the interest of the employees and guarding them from unlawful practices within the organisations.

• Be able to analyse organisational practices and identify legal principles applied in people practices, including recruitment, selection and other practices within the organisation.

• Express understanding of the legal frameworks in relation to contractual agreements that are entered between the employer and employee.

• Be able to develop strategies that are in compliance with the law in relation to termination of employment, fair dismissal and handling of disciplinary issues.

• Be able to evaluate the legal compliance of the organisation hence identifying issues of conflict between organisational policies or leadership approaches and legal frameworks.

Suitability of the Unit

Employment law is important for different professionals. It helps to understand the different frameworks that guide the interactions between the employer and employee. Employment law is one of the most versatile units within the CIPD level 7 module, as it is suitable for all stakeholders within the organisation. The employees can pursue the course to understand the legal frameworks that govern their activities and those that protect their interests within the organisation.

This helps to boost advocacy for better working practices that are aligned with the law within the workplace.The HR professionals, on the other hand, have a responsibility to ensure that the practices adopted within the organisation are in line with the legally accepted principles. As such, this unit helps them to understand the areas that are covered by the law, such as recruitment and dismissal processes hence ensuring that the practices they develop are aligned with these legal principles.

The managers, both executive and line managers, on the other hand, need to pursue this course to ensure that they focus on compliant strategies and plans within their organisations. Lastly, the labour markets have third parties, such as trade unions, that engage in influencing the interaction between the employer and employee. Leaders in such employee bodies need to understand the law to ensure they are able to advocate for the interests and rights of the employees effectively.

Key Learning Areas

Employment law covers different practices within the organisation. As such, 7ELW, as a unit, aims at providing the learners with the necessary coverage of the different areas that these laws influence. Some of the main learning areas covered within the unit include:

Contract Laws

Contract laws are important for professionals within the workplace. This area of learning within 7ELW focuses on guiding the learners to understand the different contractual agreements that can be used within the organisation and the implications of each contractual agreement. It also helps to understand the terms of the contracts and the process of entering the contracts, which are important pieces of information that the learners should acquire to ensure they are able to successfully accomplish their duties and responsibilities.

Collective Employment Law

Collective employment law involves a wide range of legal provisions and regulations. It covers issues such as equality and fairness, fair dismissal processes, minimum wage and working hours for employees within the organisations.

7ELW provides the learners with the opportunity to acquire relevant information on such areas hence improve the ability to facilitate compliant practices within the organisation. This knowledge is important in designing people practices as well as focusing on ensuring that the strategies of the organisation are aligned to future legal requirements.

Collective Bargaining

Collective bargaining is an element that has been growing in significance over the last few years. It focuses on establishing employee bodies that oversee the activities of employees. This collective bargaining concept has given rise to official and unofficial employee actions, which are activities aimed at improving the working lives of the employees.

7ELW covers this area, ensuring that the employer and the HR professionals are able to develop the required relationship with the trade unions and ensure that they recognise the role that these employee bodies play in improving the working environment and welfare of the employees within the organisation.

Wrap UP

7ELW Employment Law is a critical unit within the organisation setting. Leaders in organiziaonts as well as employees, should pursue the course to prepare them for interactions within the organisational setting. This unit is examined through two main approaches.

The first approach is the use of a theoretical assessment where the learner is required to provide responses to questions that measure their understanding of the theoretical concepts. Work-based evidence templates are the second approach used for assessment, and they test the practical ability to apply the learned concepts.