It is often said that lawyers who work with United States companies with workplaces in the United Kingdom often come across differences between employment law in the US and Britain. This is especially true when it comes to contracts of employment.
The US views employment as an “at will” activity, which means an employee can be terminated for any lawful reason, with or without cause. The United Kingdom has concepts like fair dismissal and statutory minimum notice periods, which the US would know nothing about. The same goes for amending contracts.
If employment is not to be “at will”, a United States written contract should lay out the terms that apply to the agreement.
In the United Kingdom, the EU dictates working time restrictions, which sets limits on average weekly working hours, work breaks and rest days. In this case, the law in the US differs from state to state, although most states do require rest breaks after a certain length shift. Overtime is also awarded when an employee works over 40 hours in one week.
The EU law also dictates annual holiday entitlement. In the United States, holiday entitlement does not really exist. Many employees are granted 11 federal holidays off with some other holidays as well. Something that these two countries do have in common when it comes to time off is that they both pay, in some way, for untaken time off. In the US, in some cases, an employee could be granted pay in lieu of accrued untaken paid time off. In the UK, untaken holiday pay is paid out to employees.
Both countries also prohibit any kind of discrimination (including age) as well as victimisation for whistleblowing. The UK protection age discrimination protects employees of all ages, however in the US, this same protection only covers an employee if they are 40 or older. This remains true unless a local state government lowered the age limit, like in New York.
US law requires companies with 100 or more employees to give their workers at least 60 days notice when considering mass redundancies that involve 500 or more dismissals at one site, or when a third of the total site workforce are being dismissed. Of course, the state can always dictate otherwise. The United Kingdom says companies must consult with employees at least 30 days ahead of time when it comes to the first redundancy when 20 or more redundancies are proposed within a period of 90 days at one establishment.
Whilst many laws are different between these countries, the foundation of employment law in both countries remains similar. In both of these countries, employers and employees are protected.
