People Management and Employment Law

This module lays the foundations for managing people within the law. It explains the four layers of employment law, the rising pressure on tribunals and Acas, and why most claims begin with a manager's decision. It compares Wales and England, introduces the Taylor Review on good work and the six characteristics of Fair Work Wales, and sets out the principle that the law is the floor and fairness is the standard.

Whether someone is an employee, a worker or genuinely self-employed decides which rights they have, and the contract shapes almost every later decision. This module compares the three statuses, works through the Supreme Court decision in Uber v Aslam and its lessons for casual, bank and sessional staff, and explores the written statement, the layers of contract terms, mutual trust and confidence from Malik v BCCI, lawful change and probation.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 raises the legal floor in stages, and the staggered timetable is the hardest part for managers to track. Using the timetable published by Acas, this module sets out what came in during April 2026, what is due in October 2026 and January 2027, and what is expected later in 2027, covering unfair dismissal, hours and security, family rights, harassment and enforcement, with five practical steps to prepare.

Recruitment is where the law first touches the working relationship, because equality law protects applicants from the moment an advert is drafted. This module explores affinity and confirmation bias, interviewing for evidence, reasonable adjustments and adverse impact monitoring under the Equality Act 2010, lawful pre-employment checks, the ICO audit of AI recruitment tools, and Bauer's Four Cs of onboarding, ending with a practical approach to the first six months.

Managers make many of the decisions that drive pay, from rotas and timesheets to overtime and allowances. This module covers the National Minimum Wage rates from April 2026, the Fair Work Agency, the essentials of the Working Time Regulations 1998, holiday pay after Harpur Trust v Brazel, and equal pay routes and the material factor defence, with lessons from Birmingham City Council, Next and Asda on why fair pay must be checked.

There are moments when work must make room for family life, and people remember how they were treated. This module maps statutory family and caring leave, explains strong protection in pregnancy and maternity, traces the right to request flexible working through the Acas Code and the Employment Rights Act 2025, and uses the illustrative case of Carys to show a request handled well, before turning to menopause, equality action plans and the duty to prevent sexual harassment.

Equality law is people management, running through almost every decision a manager makes. This module covers the nine protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010, direct and indirect discrimination, discrimination arising from disability, reasonable adjustments, harassment and victimisation, occupational requirements and vicarious liability, and the preventative duty on sexual harassment, including the changes due on 30 October 2026 that bring residents and patients into scope, with a practical harassment prevention cycle.

Health is where employment law and ordinary decency meet most directly. This module covers Statutory Sick Pay from April 2026, reading a fit note as advice, absence linked to disability and the duty to make reasonable adjustments, including Griffiths v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, ill-health capability following East Lindsey District Council v Daubney, the two routes for short and long absence, and planning a return to work that lasts.

Poor performance usually builds slowly, and managers who wait often find a supportive conversation has become a formal problem. This module distinguishes capability from conduct, sets out a fair performance procedure under the Acas Code and its draft successor, prepares you for difficult conversations, and uses the illustrative case of Gareth, whose undisclosed dyslexia surfaced after a new system arrived, to show why support comes first, sanction last, and how improvement plans can genuinely help.

Disciplinary matters are among the most stressful experiences at work and a common route to tribunal, yet the principles of a fair process are well established. This module covers the 2015 Acas Code and the 2026 draft, five steps to fair discipline, the Burchell test with Iceland Frozen Foods v Jones and Sainsbury's v Hitt, sanctions and mitigation, suspension, the 2026 NHS Wales disciplinary policy, and proportionality in Higgs v Farmor's School.

Most grievances begin as quiet concerns, and how they are handled often matters as much as the outcome. This module covers grievance handling under the Acas Code and the 2026 draft, the routes from a quiet word to tribunal, resolving issues at the lowest safe level, what the law says about bullying and harassment, and when mediation fits, with lessons from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, Northumbria Healthcare and Respect and Resolution in NHS Wales.

Public services depend on staff noticing when something is wrong and feeling able to say so, and a concern raised is a gift of information. This module explains whistleblowing law under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, including sexual harassment as a qualifying category from April 2026, then moves to culture: a speaking up system that works, the unequal costs of speaking up, quiet detriment, and lessons from Mid Staffordshire, the Francis review and arrangements in Wales.

Ending someone's employment is the most serious decision most managers take, and the question is whether this dismissal, of this person, was handled fairly. This module covers the five potentially fair reasons, the band of reasonable responses and Polkey v AE Dayton Services, constructive dismissal from Western Excavating v Sharp, notice, pay and paperwork, tribunal remedies, Acas early conciliation, and settlement and non-disclosure agreements, with the aim of ending with dignity.

Restructures, redundancies, transfers and changes to terms are lawful tools, but they test trust more than almost anything else a manager does. This module covers a fair redundancy step by step, collective consultation and the larger protective award since April 2026, why a proposal is not a decision, the P and O Ferries dismissals through Colquitt's justice dimensions and Rousseau's psychological contract, fire and rehire after Tesco v USDAW, TUPE, and Tata Steel at Port Talbot.

Many public services recognise trade unions, and partnership is built before the dispute. This module covers recognition and the union's role, how union law has changed from the Trade Union Act 2016 to the Employment Rights Act 2025, the Welsh social partnership duty, consulting while the answer can still move, conduct during industrial action, the four Gunning principles of fair consultation, and six moves for leading contested change, drawing on justice research.

Tribunals, appeal panels and regulators rarely see what happened; they see the record of what happened. This module covers a fair investigation step by step, drawing on the 2026 NHS Wales Disciplinary Policy and Sainsbury's v Hitt, how far an investigation should go, interviewing witnesses, writing a balanced report, people data and subject access under UK GDPR, and monitoring at work, with an illustrative case of a complaint investigated twice.

This capstone brings the programme together by reading three cases through several lenses at once: the Supreme Court decision in Tesco Stores v USDAW on promises and fire and rehire, Birmingham City Council's equal pay liability and bin workers' dispute, and an illustrative Welsh council managing a TUPE transfer, a team merger, a whistleblowing concern and a grievance. It draws out five shared threads and sets out the employment relationship as one loop.