Your rights at work

• The National Minimum Wage (NMW) – most workers are entitled to the NMW but do check your eligibility. Information and advice on our policy on paid and unpaid work experience 
• Working time rights – covers how long you can work in a week, how often you should be allowed short breaks from work and how much time off you should get each year
• Health and safety protection 
• The right to join a union
• Protection from unlawful discrimination - on the grounds of sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, religion or belief, race and disability

If you are employed under a contract of employment then you gain additional rights, but these do not come into effect until you have worked for a specific length of time. For example, the following entitlements come into effect gradually over the first two years of your employment:

• Maternity leave or emergency leave
• Statutory sick pay
• Equal pay to members of the opposite sex doing a comparable job
• Advance notice if you are to be dismissed
• A written statement of your terms of employment
• Redundancy pay