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The United Kingdom plays an important role worldwide economy and London is at the center of this activity. Work standards are similar to that of Western Europe with standard hours, restrictions, and protections.

Due to Brexit, certain rules included in the employment law are being modified, such as the calculation of holiday pay and in particular the inclusion of overtime pay. For information on new employment rules visit EasyExpat article or consult the UK site DirectGov.

Working Hours

Normal business hours are generally from Monday to Saturday from 10.00 until 17.30, However, many businesses have longer or different opening hours and you can expect most shops to be open on Sundays in larger cities.

Adult workers cannot work more than 48 hours a week on average but may work more than 48 hours in one week if the average over 17 weeks is less than 48 hours per week.

Many executives and managers may stay over this time voluntarily. Other workers can "opt out" of this requirement, but they must be over 18, it must be voluntary, and consent must be in writing.

Of course, positions where 24-hour staffing is required, the armed forces, emergency services or police, sea-fishermen or workers on vessels on inland waterways, etc. are exempt of this extract rule.

Wages & Salaries

These rates are for the National Living Wage (for those aged 23 and over) and the National Minimum Wage (for those of at least school leaving age).

The minimum wage in 2021 (in GBP) is:

• £8.91 for workers aged 23 and over
• £8.36 for workers aged 21-22
• £6.56 for workers aged 18-20
• £4.62 for workers under 18
• £4.30 for the apprentices in the first year of their apprenticeship

These rates are reviewed each year. Any changes normally take place on 1 April.

As a modern, competitive city, London offers competitive salaries. If we concentrate on individual income (data from HMRC, also available with Statista), the median wage in the UK in 2020 for all jobs is estimated at £25,780 a year and for full-time employees it is £31,461. The median annual earnings in London is estimated to be £41,017 for full time employees. In term of median disposable income for UK household in 2020 the results is a slightly different, with £29,900 a year (the mean being £36,900 due to the small number of very high earners).

Average salaries (in GBP, per year) based on career:

• Accountant: £30,200/year
• Software Engineer/Developer: £48,000/year
• Graphic Artist/Designer: £28,900/year
• Nurse: £31,000/year
• Construction worker: £28,300/year
• Web designer: £29,000/year
• Primary School Teacher: £34,500/year
• Doctor: £76,300/year
• Lawyer: £68,700/year
• Marketing Executive: £25,600/year
• Chef: £25,300/year

Working contract

Most jobs are under contract. An employment contract must be in writing and the employee should read and understand all conditions before signing. If it is in a language other than your mother tongue, you should allow a trusted advisor (like a lawyer or close friend) that is fluent in that language to inspect it.

Terms of a contract may not be changed by the employer without an employee's agreement. By law the written statement or a work contract should include the following:

• The full name of employer and employee
• The address of the employer
• The place of work
• The title of job or nature of work
• The date the employment started
• If the contract is temporary, the expected duration of the contract
• If the contract of employment is for a fixed term, the details
• Details of rest periods and breaks as required by law
• *The rate of pay or method of calculation of pay
• The pay reference period for the purposes of the National Minimum Wage Act 2000
• *Pay intervals
• *Hours of work
• *That the employee has the right to ask the employer for a written statement of his/her average hourly rate of pay as provided for in the National Minimum Wage Act 2000
• *Details of paid leave
• *Sick pay and pension (if any)
• *Period of notice to be given by employer or employee
• *Details of any collective agreements that may affect the employee's terms of employment

There are several kinds of employment contracts:

• Permanent contract - Permanent position with a company
• Fixed term contract - Contract has a date specifying when the job will end
• Probationary contract - Sometimes given to people who have just started their job. This can be changed to another contract when the probationary period is over
• Short term contract - Usually for one year, but never more than two
• Zero contract - does not specify any number of hours that the employee will be required to work. These are common for shop workers who are contracted to work whenever they are asked
• Key time contract - for people who are guaranteed some work, but not at regular hours

Termination

An employee has been terminated when an employer brings the contract of employment to an end. This may be due to redundancy (lay-off) or dismissal because of fault of the employee. An employee may submits a voluntary termination by leaving the job.

Terms of termination should be detailed within the contract. Issues with termination should be discussed with a trade union, the Citizens Advice Bureau or a Law Centre. After a dismissal, there is a period of three months in which to make a complaint.

Under UK law, an employer can dismiss an employee at any time, although a period of notice must normally be given.

Notice you must give your employer

If you have worked for your employer for one month or more, the legal minimum amount of notice you must give is one week.

Normally your employment contract will set out a longer notice period. If it does, you should give this length of notice to your employer.

If your employment contract doesn't set out a notice period you should give a reasonable period of notice to your employer. This is an 'implied contract' as there is no written or verbal agreement, but is automatically provided by law. What is 'reasonable' will depend on your seniority and how long you have worked there.

If you don't give proper notice, you will be in breach of contract and it is possible for your employer to sue you for damages.

Notice your employer must give you

The minimum levels of notice an employer must normally give to an employee are laid down in the Employment Rights Act 1996 and depend upon the length of time the employee has been continuously employed.

• one week period of notice if you've been continuously employed for between one month and two years
• one week period of notice for each complete year (up to a maximum of 12) if you've been continuously employed for two or more years

If the employee's contract provides for a longer period of notice than the above statutory minimum periods of notice, the longer contractual period of notice will apply. The contract may also provide that a payment may be made to the employee in lieu of notice.

Note that, If an employee is guilty of serious or gross misconduct (i.e. violence, theft, etc.) the employer may be justified in instantly dismissing the employee without any period of notice at all.

Time Off in London

Almost all workers have the right to paid leave, also called "statutory holiday". People who work full-time, part-time, agency workers and casual workers are all eligible.

Only people who are self-employed and a few other exceptions will not be entitled to statutory paid holiday.

Rights:

• Minimum of 5.6 weeks paid annual leave (28 days for someone working five days a week)
• People working irregular hours (like shift workers or term-time workers) are entitled to paid time off for every hour they work. You can estimate your holiday entitlement here by calculating leave based on days or hours worked in an average week.
• Holiday time begins as soon as you start work
• Employer can control when you take your holiday
• Entitled to normal pay rate
• If you leave a job with remaining holiday time, you are compensated

Holidays

Commonly called "bank holidays", these are days where most public/government offices and many private businesses will be closed.

There are public or local holidays which can be determined by local authorities, based on local tradition.

• New Year's Day - January lst
• Day after New Year's Day - January 2nd
• Good Friday – April to May
• Easter Monday - April to May (just following Good Friday)
• Early May Bank Holiday - first Monday in May
• Spring Bank Holiday - first Monday in June
• Summer Bank Holiday - last Monday of August
• Boxing Day - Day before Christmas
• Christmas Day - December 25th

All bank holidays are happening on the next available work-day if they fall at the weekend. Click HERE for a more detailed list of Bank Holiday dates in the UK.

Remote Working

Remote working has been getting more followers over the past few years. It may be due to the increase of flexibility and freedom feeling or due to the arrival of the pandemic.
Either way, as shown in a recent study of the Office for National Statistics, the percentage of employers who worked from home in 2020 increased to 37% on average from 27% in 2019 in the UK.

When being asked about its pros and cons, most of them agree that the work-life balance was the greatest positive, while challenges of collaboration were the greatest negative.
Those living in London are most likely to report working from home in the UK. Specially, workers aged 30 to 49 years, with almost half of them (45%) doing so compared with around one-third of those aged 16 to 29 years (34%) and 50 to 69 years (32%).

A new trend is emerging for ‘hybrid working', where employees are keen to split their work between home and the office. In 2020, 85% of currently homeworkers claimed that preferred to use a "hybrid" approach of both home and office working in future.

View the full study HERE