Firm foundations
Employment law basics for managers.
Three hours on employment law foundations: the layers of law, employment status, the Employment Rights Act 2025, fair recruitment and pay, hours and holidays.
- Level
- Focus
- Learning time
- 3 hours
- Where
- People Management and Employment Law
- Price
- £69
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Read the full terms
Certificate of Completion, or Certificate of Completion and Assessment with a short assessment
Overview and Outcomes.
Who It's For
Managers who recruit, contract and pay staff
Overview
Most employment claims begin with a manager's decision, which makes employment law part of everyday people management. This programme lays the foundations: the four layers of employment law, the Fair Work Wales characteristics and the principle that the law is the floor and fairness the standard. It covers employment status and contracts through Uber v Aslam and Malik v BCCI, the staged changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025, and lawful, fair recruitment and onboarding under the Equality Act 2010. It closes on pay, hours and holidays, including holiday pay after Harpur Trust v Brazel and equal pay.
Aims
This programme aims to give managers the confidence to make everyday people decisions lawfully and fairly: recognising where the law applies, keeping track of the Employment Rights Act 2025 timetable, and treating fair process as the standard rather than the minimum, from the first advert to the payslip.
In summary, you will be able to:
- Explain the main layers of employment law, the differences between Wales and England and how employment status shapes people's rights.
- Plan for the staged changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025 and apply lawful, fair practice to recruitment, onboarding and probation.
- Assess pay, hours and holiday decisions against minimum wage, working time and equal pay requirements and identify risks to address.
What you'll develop
Through this Focus course, you will build the ability to:
- Describe the four layers of employment law, from statute and case law to Codes of Practice and organisational policy, and explain how firm each one is.
- Identify the moments in everyday management where legal risk begins, and explain the five elements of good practice expected of a manager.
- Distinguish employees, workers and the genuinely self-employed, and explain why the reality of an arrangement rather than its label decides status.
- Distinguish which Employment Rights Act 2025 changes are already in force, which are due on a set date, and which are expected in 2027 on dates still to be fixed.
- Identify how affinity and confirmation bias shape selection decisions and use structured, evidence-based interviewing to reduce them.
- Identify how local decisions on working time, deductions and unpaid tasks can bring a worker's average pay below the legal minimum.
Built from 2 parts.
3 hours of learning.
- 01The law and the managerEmployment Rights Act 2025 and contractsBitesize3 modules
- 02Starting on the right footRecruitment law, pay, hours and holidaysBitesize2 modules
Keep going.
Part of the People Management and Employment Law topic, also sold whole as Fair, firm and lawful.
Go deeper, and pay only the difference
- You are hereFocus, 3 hours, £69
- Next stepExplore, Getting the basics right, 5 hours 30 minutes, £129. Already own the Focus? You pay £60.
- The whole topicImmerse, Fair, firm and lawful, 11 hours, £249. Already own the Focus? You pay £180.
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Prices per person. Read the full terms