Evaluation of Employment Legislation and Protection of Peripheral Workforce in UK Tourism and Hospit

Evaluate to what extent the peripheral workforce within the UK tourism and hospitality Industries are protected by employment legislation. Your answer should make reference to zero hours and gig economy workers. 

Peripheral workforce can be referred to as the contingent workers, who are eventually engaged in the temporary part-time, zero-hour contracts, fixed-term contracts and even casual employment (Tailby et al. 2003). This tourism and hospital industry in the United Kingdom is prevalent and significant and is also responsible for bringing out maximum profit to the overall economy of the country. Several organizations in the industry have been using peripheral workforce in their major operative jobs. As a result, these peripheral workers and employees get the opportunity to be distinct parts of the industry and ensure employment under every circumstance (Honeyball 2016). One of the significant supports that the entire peripheral workforce gets in their working aspect is security from employment legislation. The following essay outlines a brief discussion on the subsequent protection of the peripheral workforce in UK tourism as well as the hospitality industry with the help of employment legislation with relevant details.  

This industry for tourism and hospitality in the United Kingdom has employed several employees and staff for employment purpose (Nairns 2013). Apart from the core workforce, the tourism industry in the UK has also employed a peripheral workforce, so that maximum employment has prevailed in the country without much issue or complexity. Moreover, the people who stay outside the United Kingdom could also earn from this industry for a shorter period (Cohen and Cohen 2012). A proper collaboration in such measurement of employment becomes possible with the subsequent involvement of both peripheral and core workforce (Horner 2017). Due to their involvement of the peripheral workforce, the entire tourism industry can complete strategic planning, engage efficiency in work from diversified backgrounds, provide employment to interns and fresher based on a zero-hour contract and fixed contracts.

The peripheral workforce are also referred to as the contingent workers, who get engaged in temporary part time, zero hour contract and fixed term contract. The first and the foremost characteristic of the peripheral work force is that they are temporary workers and do not comprise of permanent jobs. These employees work either on contract basis or after following the economic effects majorly. The second vital and significant characteristic of the peripheral work force is that they comprise of flexible working nature and hours, which refers to the fact that the workers choose their own working time, irrespective of the shift hours (Tailby et al. 2003). As a result, the students or part time workers are able to avail this job without much complexity. Stability in work is also maintained as the workers get job satisfaction. Most of these workers belong to undergraduate background or are students, who are working for their pocket money. Moreover, the migrated individuals, who are searching for jobs, are also considered as the part of peripheral workforce. The ethnicity is mostly African and Asian and the tourism industry allows both male and female workers.

Peripheral Workforce in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry in the UK

A zero-hour contract refers to the kind of agreement within a staff or worker and a proprietor, in which the proprietor is not eventually obliged for providing any type of minimum working hour and the team is also not required in accepting the offered work. The respective employee might sign an agreement for being available for work whenever needed so that it is not necessary to be available for a specific number of time and hours of work (Baker 2017). The tourism industry in the UK has also focused on the gig economy before engaging the peripheral workforce. It is a significant labour market that is being featured by the prevalence of all types of short term contracts and freelance work as being opposed to permanent jobs. As a result, they have employed staff and employees in their industry after consideration of different aspects related to independent contractor and freelancer, instead of the full-time workers (Wood 2015). Due to the presence of the gig economy, the full-time workers could easily change their positions and gain success in the short term contracts eventually.

The government of the United Kingdom has focused on different rules and regulations for ensuring that employment has prevailed in the country for all types of industries and organizations (Williams and Buswell 2003). The labour law in the UK s responsible for regulating the relationships within trade unions, employers and workers. The individuals at work within the benefit of the UK from the lowest charter of these employment rights that are being found in several acts, regulation, equity and prevailing laws. It even involves the first reason to the least wage of 8.21 pounds for more than twenty five year olds under the relevant legislation of National Minimum Wage Act 1998 (Riley, Ladkin and Szivas 2002). For getting fairer labour standards beyond their least wages, the most significant right is to eventually participate in different decisions regarding the process of an enterprise of the industry is managed. 

The next significant and important legislation, which is being made for the peripheral workforce in the UK is Health and Safety at Work Act (Lashley and Lee-Ross 2003). According to this particular law, different regulations and rules are needed to be kept on top priority related to employee workforce. This particular act eventually places a specific duty for ensuring that there is reasonable practices for health, safety and welfare at work for every staff. The employers should comply with this particular act and they should provide as well as maintain safety equipment or systems for work. It even specifies those persons and classes of individuals, who in the event of a contravention of a requirement or prohibition imposed by or under the regulations (Pechlaner et al. 2004). As a result, the peripheral workforce is able to get better support and statutory provisions towards their work.

Employment Legislation in The UK

Another noteworthy and popular employment legislation in the UK for peripheral workforce is Employment Rights Act. It mainly concerns about the major rights that are being awarded to the employees, after inclusion of reasonable notice before a fair dismissal, unfair or redundancy dismissal and even time off for parenting (Baker 2017). This particular legislation majorly covers maximum of the British employees under labour law, irrespective of the fact that they belong to peripheral or core workforce. With this particular legislation, no organization can pay less wages or salaries to their workforce.

For the peripheral workforce, the employment legislation in the UK has made different laws in fifty-one jurisdictions (Lashley and Lee-Ross 2003). The employees comprise the most extensive rights, and the employer has no control of the work, and there is the mutuality of obligation. Hence, there is a lack of inconsistency in the relationship between employment. According to the employment legislation in the United Kingdom, every employer and employee has to follow the contracts made earlier during the employment of the peripheral workforce. Several terms are being implied into the employment contracts, and there had been a duty of mutual trust as well as confidence is individually significant for employees and employers.

The external workforce is responsible for including the employees, who are only temporary and do not contribute to the most significant tasks; the business should execute. A core workforce, on the other hand, involves employees, who can perform the essential activities of the organization (j Mullins and Christy 2013). Hence, the establishment of a core workforce comprises of a handful of benefits to the managers. This particular workforce also involves different temporary workers and interns, who are being freshly dispatched from the employment agencies. There are several tasks and duties, which fall under subsequent management of the employees. However, almost all of them could eventually fit into the five categories, which include selection, monitoring, interaction, reward and discipline.

The entire UK government has supported the tourism and hospitality industry by the employment legislation to ensure that the peripheral workforce is getting the same advantages and benefits as the core workforce (Thomas and Lazarova 2013). More than 26% of the total UK workforce is working under the peripheral workforce. Hence, it is required for the government of the United Kingdom to involve new regulations and policies. They have made new employment relations and rules for this peripheral workforce. For the industry of tourism and hospitality, the employment legislation has governed the right and wrong aspects of employers for understanding the relationship between the employers and employees in the United Kingdom (Van der Wagen and White 2014). Since they have involved gig economy and zero-hour contracts for the peripheral employees and workforce, the responsibilities of the employment in the tourism and hospitality industry are being given based on their employment status.

Support of Employment Legislation in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry in The UK

With the involvement of zero-hour contracts, they have involved piece work or call work for the employees, which refers to the fact that they are either on-call for working whenever required or they are given partial work or contract basis job for completion of the work (Thomas and Lazarova 2013). According to the law, the employer could not ignore any of the specifications of employment for their contract. The peripheral workers only have to follow one rule of not accepting work chances from any other employer and not looking for works apart from the assigned jobs. The employment legislation in the UK has supported the peripheral workforce by assuring them that the employees would not have to work whenever asked and they can have a choice of selecting their flexible working hours under any circumstance (O'Connor and Pizam 1999). Moreover, due to the inclusion of zero-hour contracts, no employer would force them in working for any minimum range of hours and hence allowing them to work efficiently at their own choices.

Furthermore, since these peripheral workers are part-time workers, no employer or organization in the tourism and hospitality industry in the UK would be paying those wages less than the minimum range. The employment legislations like National Minimum Wage Act 1998, Employment Rights Act and Health and Safety at Work Act have made sure that the employees do not work longer than the maximum period allowed and also get paid at least with the minimum wages with safety aspects (Van der Wagen and White 2014).  

These legislations also ensure that employees are working under safety terms and even at flexible hours. One of the most popular and significant examples of Employee Rights Act is that if any of the employee does not get his or her wages, that particular employee has full right to take legal steps against the organization. The UK government would also provide opportunities to this employee for finding work in any other similar company (O'Connor and Pizam 1999). Regarding, Health and Safety at Work Act, a major example is that if any accident occurs with the employee during working hours, the organization is bound to pay all the medical expenses. The liability insurance of the employer is also provided to these employees, and a safe and secured working environment has prevailed under all situations (Riley, Ladkin and Szivas 2002). This particular legislation has also considered flexible working requests and has avoided discrimination majorly within the workplace (Lucas 2004). With the presence of the gig economy, reasonable adjustments are also being made to the business premises of the UK based tourism industry when the staff is terminated.

Conclusion

Therefore, a conclusion could be drawn that employment management is the effort of helping the employees for doing their best work every day for the core purpose of achieving the broader objectives of the business. The first category is selection, which entails subsequent searching and recruitment of the most appropriate candidates for filling open positions and keeping the teams and departments productive smoothly. The second category of monitoring refers to measurement as well as evaluation of the employment performances. Interaction is responsible for covering regular exchanges within the reports and manager for communication of the job interactions. Rewarding of the employees involves recognition, monetary prizes as well as other incentives, related to high performances. Discipline eventually describes the measures that are being taken for improving low returns and correcting the mistakes. The above-provided essay has appropriately analysed the concept of the peripheral workforce in the tourism and hospitality industry in the United Kingdom and their support from the employment legislation in the most relevant manner.

References

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