Scenario
You work for a large UK-based NHS trust in its People Management department where you specialise in providing advice and guidance to colleagues about employment law issues. In the last few days, you have received ten emails that you now need to answer. These are summarised below. Provide answers to each of these, aiming in each case to do so in around 390 words so that the total length of your assessment is 3,900 words in length (+ /- 10%). Your emails should answer each of the enquiries as fully as possible and you should take care to justify all the points you make.
Task
Email 1 (AC 1.1)
A fellow people management officer estimates that 20% or so of her working days are taken up with activity that is created as a result of regulations. She states this is time she would prefer to spend more productively improving the employment experience that the Trust provides. To help her understand why it is important to spend time dealing with issues that relate to employment law, send a reply that includes an evaluation of the aims and objectives of employment regulation.
Email 2 (AC 1.2)
You are asked to brief a senior manager in your team about the status of judgements made by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) prior to the UK’s departure from the European Union in 2020. Do these remain good law? Are they still binding on the UK courts? Or can they now be disregarded? He asks for an example by way of illustration.
Email 3 (AC 2.1)
A colleague asks for advice about ‘occupational requirements’. She wants to know when she may and may not seek to stipulate that a job in her directorate must be carried out either by a man or a woman. Explain this to her, considering the main principles of discrimination law in recruitment and selection in your email with reference to specific examples.
Email 4 (AC 2.2)
A nurse manager wants to upgrade two of her health care assistants (HCAs) using some surplus money left over from a research project she has been carrying out. She wants to move them from the A grade on which the vast majority of HCAs in the Trust are employed to the higher B grade. The two people concerned are men. 80% of the HCAs in your Trust are women. She is asking you to approve the upgrade. Include discussion of the legal requirements of equal pay in your reply.
Email 5 (AC 3.1)
A colleague is concerned that a radiographer who recently resigned from the Trust may be about to make a constructive dismissal claim in relation to a change that was made recently to his working hours. She asks for your advice about the circumstances in which such a change can form the basis of a successful constructive dismissal claim and about how long former employees have to make claims before they are considered to be ‘out of time’ by the Employment Tribunal Service.
Email 6 (AC 3.2)
A senior manager is leading on a reorganisation in his directorate. Fifty posts are to be lost, some of which will involve compulsory redundancies. He is keen to get on with the process quickly, simply dismissing the poorest performers and avoiding as much by way of time-consuming consultation as possible. Include discussion of the legal requirements relating to redundancy in your answer.
Email 7 (AC 3.3)
Your Chief Executive Officer is about to open preliminary negotiations with a neighbouring hospital trust about the possibility of merging their two major pharmacy operations. The new centralised pharmacy will be based in your Trust but will provide services to the neighbouring trust as an expanded operation. She asks you to explain the major relevant rights that any employees involved in the merger might have in respect of the Transfer of Undertakings (i.e. TUPE) regulations should it go ahead at some date in the future.
Email 8 (AC 4.1)
You are asked to explain the regulatory requirements relating to the calculation of holiday pay to a new colleague. There are several dozen nurse bank staff who are employed regularly but on a casual basis to work in his department. They mainly cover shifts when permanently employed colleagues are absent and he is keen to ensure that their holiday pay is calculated fairly and lawfully.
Email 9 (AC 4.2)
A member of staff who is pregnant asks you to explain to her the major ways in which maternity leave and shared parental leave differ. She is considering which of these options would be most beneficial to her and her partner and is looking for your guidance before making her decision.
Email 10 (AC 4.3)
A colleague in the People Management team has recently received a letter from a newly appointed administrative officer who is employed to work on your main hospital site. She is formally requesting the right to work from home on three days each week. Your colleague does not wish to accede to this request for fear that it will encourage other administrative staff to demand the right to work from home too and that this will reduce the quality of the service the team provides. Include an explanation of employment rights in relation to flexible working in your answer.
Assessment Criteria Evidence Checklist
You may find the following checklist helpful to make sure that you have included the required evidence to meet the task. This is not a mandatory requirement as long as it is clear in your submission where the assessment criteria have been met.
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Assessment |
Evidenced Y/N |
Evidence reference |
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1.1 |
Evaluate the aims and |
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1.2 |
Examine the role played by the |
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2.1 |
Explain the main principles of |
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2.2 |
Discuss the legal requirements |
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3.1 |
Discuss the legal implications |
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3.2 |
Explain the legal requirements |
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3.3 |
Explain the legal requirements |
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4.1 |
Explain the major statutory |
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4.2 |
Explain the main principles of |
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4.3 |
Explain employment rights |
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Assessment Criteria marking descriptors.
Assessors will mark in line with the following assessment criteria (AC) marking descriptors, and will indicate where the learner sits within the marking band range for each AC.
Assessors must provide a mark from 1 to 4 for each assessment criteria within the unit. Assessors should use the mark descriptor grid as guidance so they can provide comprehensive feedback that is developmental for learners. Please be aware that not all the mark descriptors will be present in every assessment criterion, so assessors must use their discretion in making grading decisions.
The grid below shows the range for each unit assessment result based on total number of marks awarded across all assessment criteria.
To pass the unit assessment learners must achieve a 2 (Low Pass) or above for each of the assessment criteria.
The overall result achieved will dictate the outcome the learner receives for the unit, provided NONE of the assessment criteria have been failed or referred.
Please note that learners will receive a Pass or Fail result from the CIPD at unit level. Referral grades can be used internally by the centre.
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Overall mark |
Unit result |
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0 to 19 |
Fail |
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20 to 25 |
Low Pass |
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26 to 32 |
Pass |
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33 to 40 |
High Pass |
Marking Descriptors
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Mark |
Range |
Descriptor |
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1 |
Fail |
The response DOES NOT Insufficient Presentation |
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2 |
Low Pass |
The response demonstrates Sufficient acceptable Sufficient evidence of Satisfactory in-text Answer is acceptable but Required |
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3 |
Pass
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The response Includes confident use of Good evidence of A good standard of Answer |
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4 |
High Pass |
The response Considerable evidence of An excellent standard Answer responds clearly to the question/task and is Presentation |