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United Kingdom

United Kingdom Labor Stats

jaacosta47

Author: jaacosta47

The Labor Law in the United Kingdom is very flexible. All employees are entitled to an employment contract as basis of the legal employment relationship. Throughout the years, employees have been given many legal rights as a result of parliamentary acts and regulations which affect employment relationship. The contract prescribes the number of work hours’ holiday entitlement. Rules stipulate the maximum number of hours an individual should work weekly. Young people of 18 years should work a maximum of 40 hours a week or eight hours a day. Adults can work 48 hours a week.

Employers within the UK can select the legal system that will govern employment agreements. In case there is no choice of law specified in the employment agreement, the law of the country in which the employee is located will apply. Pursuant to the Employment Rights Act of 1996, all employees in the UK must receive within two months of employment, a written statement from their employers laying down terms and conditions of work. The principal legislation that bars discrimination and harassment is the Equality Act 2010. The law follows three major European Union Directives. It strictly forbids discrimination and harassment based on a broad array of protected characteristics.

The National Minimum Wage Act of 1998 sets the minimum pay per hour for workers in the UK. The minimum wage rate depends on age bracket but employees over 21 years of age; the current minimum hourly wage rate is currently £6.19. The government is also set to publish consolidated and simplified National Minimum Wage Regulations in late April of 2013. The employee's standard number of working hours is specified in the employment contract. Adult employees may not be required to work more than 40 hours every week. On the other hand, employers are not mandated to pay workers for overtime for hours worked in excess of what is indicated in the legal agreement.

Definitions

  • Agricultural workers > Male: Proportion of employed males engaged in the agricultural sector. Employment by economic activity (%) (most recent year available between 1995 and 2001). Note: As a result of a number of limitations in the data, comparisons of labour statistics over time and across countries should be made with caution. For detailed notes on the data see ILO (2002. Estimates and Projections of the Economically Active Population, 1950-2010, 4th ed., rev. 2. Database. Geneva; 2002. Key Indicators of the Labour Market 2001-2002. February 2002; and 2002. Laboursta Database. February 2002). The percentage shares of employment by economic activity may not sum to 100 because of rounding or the omission of activities not classified.
  • Employment rate > Adults: Employment to population ratio is the proportion of a country's population that is employed. Ages 15 and older are generally considered the working-age population.
  • Expense > Current LCU: Expense (current LCU). Expense is cash payments for operating activities of the government in providing goods and services. It includes compensation of employees (such as wages and salaries), interest and subsidies, grants, social benefits, and other expenses such as rent and dividends.
  • GNI > Current US$: GNI (current US$). GNI (formerly GNP) is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from abroad. Data are in current U.S. dollars.
  • Hours worked > Standard workweek: Standard workweek (hours).
  • Labor force: The total labor force figure
  • Labor force > By occupation: Component parts of the labor force by occupation.
  • Labor force > By occupation > Agriculture: This entry lists the percentage distribution of the labor force by occupation. The distribution will total less than 100 percent if the data are incomplete.
  • Labor force > By occupation > Industry: This entry lists the percentage distribution of the labor force by occupation. The distribution will total less than 100 percent if the data are incomplete.
  • Labor force > By occupation > Services: This entry lists the percentage distribution of the labor force by occupation. The distribution will total less than 100 percent if the data are incomplete.
  • Labor force, total: Labor force, total. Total labor force comprises people ages 15 and older who meet the International Labour Organization definition of the economically active population: all people who supply labor for the production of goods and services during a specified period. It includes both the employed and the unemployed. While national practices vary in the treatment of such groups as the armed forces and seasonal or part-time workers, in general the labor force includes the armed forces, the unemployed, and first-time job-seekers, but excludes homemakers and other unpaid caregivers and workers in the informal sector.
  • Salaries and benefits > Hourly minimum wage: Hourly minimum wage at international USD (this means that discrepancies in purchasing power have been compensated for).
  • Salaries and benefits > Minimum wage: Minimum wage.

    No date was available from the Wikipedia article, so we used the date of retrieval.

  • Trade union membership: Union members as % of all employees. Figures are for 2000.
  • Unemployment rate: The percent of the labor force that is without jobs. Substantial underemployment might be noted.
STAT AMOUNT DATE RANK HISTORY
Agricultural workers > Male 2% 2010 76th out of 78
Employment rate > Adults 56.3 2008 94th out of 165
Expense > Current LCU 671.66 billion 2011 37th out of 104
GNI > Current US$ $2.46 trillion 2012 7th out of 176
Hours worked > Standard workweek 38.2 hours 2014 176th out of 183
Labor force 31.45 million 2010 18th out of 116
Labor force > By occupation agriculture 1.5%, industry 19.1%, services 79.5% 2004
Labor force > By occupation > Agriculture 1.4% 2006 27th out of 28
Labor force > By occupation > Industry 18.2% 2006 16th out of 24
Labor force > By occupation > Services 80.4% 2006 1st out of 25
Labor force, total 32.38 million 2012 19th out of 182
Salaries and benefits > Hourly minimum wage $7.81 2013 8th out of 37
Salaries and benefits > Minimum wage \u00a3 6.31 per hour (aged 21 and older), \u00a35.03 per hour (aged 18\u201320) or \u00a33.72 per hour (under 18 and finished compulsory education). 2014
Trade union membership 29% 2000 10th out of 18
Unemployment rate 7.9% 2010 47th out of 91

SOURCES: ILO (International Labour Organization). 2002. Key Indicators of the Labour Market 2001-2002. February 2002; International Labour Organisation, Key Indicators of the Labour Market database.; International Monetary Fund, Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files. World Bank World Development Indicators.; World Bank national accounts data; Wikipedia: List of minimum wages by country (Countries) ("Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013" . State.gov . Retrieved 2014-03-04 .); CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011; All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008; International Labour Organization, Key Indicators of the Labour Market database.; Wikipedia: List of minimum wages by country (Countries); Figures are from the OECD. The figures are from EIRO for France, Ireland and Italy

Citation

NationMaster

5

The Labor Law in the United Kingdom is very flexible. All employees are entitled to an employment contract as basis of the legal employment relationship. Throughout the years, employees have been given many legal rights as a result of parliamentary acts and regulations which affect employment relationship. The contract prescribes the number of work hours’ holiday entitlement. Rules stipulate the maximum number of hours an individual should work weekly. Young people of 18 years should work a maximum of 40 hours a week or eight hours a day. Adults can work 48 hours a week.

Employers within the UK can select the legal system that will govern employment agreements. In case there is no choice of law specified in the employment agreement, the law of the country in which the employee is located will apply. Pursuant to the Employment Rights Act of 1996, all employees in the UK must receive within two months of employment, a written statement from their employers laying down terms and conditions of work. The principal legislation that bars discrimination and harassment is the Equality Act 2010. The law follows three major European Union Directives. It strictly forbids discrimination and harassment based on a broad array of protected characteristics.

The National Minimum Wage Act of 1998 sets the minimum pay per hour for workers in the UK. The minimum wage rate depends on age bracket but employees over 21 years of age; the current minimum hourly wage rate is currently £6.19. The government is also set to publish consolidated and simplified National Minimum Wage Regulations in late April of 2013. The employee's standard number of working hours is specified in the employment contract. Adult employees may not be required to work more than 40 hours every week. On the other hand, employers are not mandated to pay workers for overtime for hours worked in excess of what is indicated in the legal agreement.

Posted on 19 May 2014

jaacosta47

jaacosta47

423 Stat enthusiast

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