Rights and Responsibilities in the Workplace

A contract has two sides

Almost everybody reads an employment contract the same way, and almost everybody reads it wrong. They skim it for what they will have to do: the hours, the duties, the rules they will be expected to follow. All of that is in there. But a contract is an agreement between two parties, and every line that binds one of them usually binds the other to something in return. The hours are what you will work and also what you can expect to be asked for. The duties are what you must do and also the limit of what you can be told to do. The policies are rules you have to follow and also commitments the employer has made about how you will be treated. Reading it one way makes the document feel like a set of demands. Reading it as the two-way thing it actually is turns it into something useful, because you can then tell the difference between a reasonable instruction and an unreasonable one. That habit runs through everything in this topic: the code of conduct, what each side owes the other, what happens when somebody does not meet their responsibilities, and where a trade union fits in. Getting the job in the first place is a separate topic with a module of its own. This one starts on the first day.

Five words for the workplace

Short definitions, worth having exactly right before you use them in an answer.

Who does each rule protect?

What is this rule for?

A workplace has a rule that staff do not discuss customers by name outside work, even with family. What is the best explanation of why that rule exists?

• Customers gave their information for one purpose, and the rule stops it being used for any other
• The employer wants to control what staff talk about in their own time
• Gossiping is unprofessional and makes the workplace unpleasant
• It is against the law to talk about work at all

What each side owes the other

Set the two columns side by side and the two-way nature of the agreement stops being an abstract idea.

When something is not right

Something in the agreement is not being honoured at work. Put these five steps into the order that gives the best chance of fixing it.

• Check what the contract and the relevant policy actually say
• Write down what happened and when, while it is fresh
• Raise it informally with the person who can do something about it
• If that does not resolve it, use the formal procedure the employer has published
• Get representation or advice if it goes further, from a union or another source

What a contract actually sets out

Which THREE of these would you expect an employment contract to set out?

• The hours to be worked and how they are arranged
• The duties of the job, which also limit what can be demanded
• How much notice each side must give to end the agreement
• Who the employee may be friends with outside work
• A guarantee of promotion after a set period

A rule that looks petty usually protects somebody

The fastest way to turn this topic from a list into an explanation is a single question, and it works on any rule you will ever meet: WHO GETS HURT IF THIS IS IGNORED. Most workplace rules look fussy until that question is asked, and then they usually resolve into somebody specific. A rule about footwear on a workshop floor is not about appearance; it is about the particular things that fall or spill in that room, and the person it protects is the one wearing the shoes. A rule about phones is rarely about idleness; in a kitchen it is about hygiene, on a road it is about a vehicle, in a hospital it is about somebody privacy. A rule that nobody uses new equipment untrained protects everyone nearby, and it is worth noticing that this one is a duty the EMPLOYER owes rather than one the worker owes. A rule about confidentiality protects a customer who handed over information for one purpose and not for any other. Now the honest part, because the question has to be allowed to fail. Some workplace rules protect nobody. Tidying the staff kitchen is a courtesy, not a safeguard, and pretending otherwise would teach you to invent a victim for every rule. The skill is telling the two kinds apart, because in an exam answer, naming who a rule protects is an explanation and simply listing the rule is not.

Complete the workplace sentences

The agreement setting out what each side has promised the other is _____. The detail of that agreement, which cannot be changed by one side alone, is the _____. The standards of behaviour expected at work, covering things the contract does not spell out, are set by _____. An organisation that represents workers collectively is _____.

One code of conduct, read properly

Here is a short code of conduct from a small firm, read the way this topic wants you to read it. It has five lines. Treat colleagues and customers with respect, whoever they are. Wear the protective footwear provided in the workshop. Do not use the company social media accounts for anything personal. Do not discuss customer information outside work. Report anything unsafe immediately, however small. Read as a list it is five instructions and it is forgettable. Read by asking who each one protects, it becomes something else. The first is the equality commitment in plain words, and it binds the employer too, because a workplace that tolerates disrespect from a manager has broken its own code. The second protects the person wearing the shoes, and it comes with an obligation the other way: the footwear is PROVIDED, so if it is not there the rule cannot be enforced. The third protects the business reputation and also the worker, who would otherwise be answerable for something posted under the company name. The fourth protects customers who handed over information for one purpose. And the fifth protects everybody, and it is the one that only works if reporting something unsafe is genuinely safe to do, which is a commitment the employer has to keep for the rule to mean anything. Five lines, and four of them bind both sides.

Find the duty, not the preference

Five statements from a staff handbook. Tap the ONE that describes something the employer is obliged to do rather than something it merely encourages.

• We encourage staff to take a proper break away from their desk at lunchtime.
• We would like everybody to take part in the annual charity day.
• Staff will be trained on any equipment before being asked to use it.
• We suggest keeping your workspace tidy so that others can find things.
• We hope staff will feel able to share ideas for improving how we work.

Explain the rule

An answer that names a rule earns little. Choose the option in each gap to explain one.

The workplace run

Five quick questions on rights and responsibilities. Three lives.

Three weeks into a new job

You are three weeks into a first job. You were told you would be trained on a machine before using it, and this morning you were asked to use it because somebody is off sick. You have also noticed you are regularly asked to stay twenty minutes past your finishing time. Work through three decisions.

• What do you do about the machine?
• What do you do first about the extra twenty minutes?
• The contract says nothing about staying late and you want to raise it. How?

Explain the two sides

A friend starting their first job says the contract is just a list of rules the employer wants them to follow. Explain why that is only half of what a contract is, using examples.

• Explain what a contract sets out, and why it binds both sides
• Give two things the employee owes and two things the employer owes
• Explain what a code of conduct adds that the contract does not cover
• Take one workplace rule and explain who it protects and why
• Finish by saying what somebody should do first if part of the agreement is not being honoured