Human rights

Topics
Employment law
- Adoption
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- Age discrimination
- Bribery Act
- Changing terms and conditions
- Continuity of employment
- Data protection
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- Employing ex-offenders
- Employing foreign nationals
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- Race discrimination
- Recruitment and selection
- Redundancy
- References
- Religion or belief discrimination
- Resignation
- Retirement
- Right to request flexible working
- Rights for those with dependants
- Sex discrimination
- Sexual orientation discrimination
- Time off work
- Transfer of undertakings - TUPE
- Tribunals
- Working time
Employee relations
Learning and development
Absence management
Employee benefits and pay
Employee well-being
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Introduction

Human rights key points

The European Convention on Human Rights contains a number of Articles which guarantee basic human rights. They include the:

Right to a fair trial (Schedule 1, article 6).
Respect for privacy (Schedule 1, article 8).
Prohibition on discrimination (Schedule 1, article 14).
Freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association (including the right to join a trade union) (Schedule 1, article 11).
Peaceful enjoyment of possessions (article 1 of the First Protocol).

The UK gave formal approval to the Convention in 1951 but did not incorporate it into UK law until implementation of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) in 2000.
The HRA requires UK courts to take account of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the European Commission of Human Rights in deciding issues concerning Convention rights. It also requires UK courts to interpret UK legislation in a manner compatible with the Convention. In practice, it enables UK citizens and commercial organisations to pursue human rights arguments in the domestic courts where they would previously have been obliged to take their cases to the ECtHR in Strasbourg.
The HRA has also made it unlawful for a "public authority" to act in a manner which is incompatible with a Convention right unless domestic law requires it to act in such a way. A wide range of organisations are likely to be classified as "public authorities" for the purposes of the Act, including government bodies and regulators but also "hybrid corporate bodies" with both "private" and "public" functions, such as Railtrack and the BBC which are deemed to be public authorities when exercising their "public functions".

Keywords:
Human rights

Downloadable document

Employers experiences in addressing discrimination research report (103K)

Last Modified: 21/07/2011

Research outlining practical challenges arising from the introduction of new discrimination laws in 2003, with solutions to inform and promote good practice guidance.

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Human rights policies and documents

Employers experiences in addressing discrimination research report