The Current Labour Laws Relative to Employee Status, Contractual Terms of Employment - Research Paper Example

The result is that labour law today is an amalgamation of legislation, EU obligations and law and the common law.3 These laws have been developed to promote a degree of legal certainty and fairness with the ultimate goal of avoiding conflicts by balancing enterprise flexibility and employee protection.4 However, as is quite often the case with any area of law, legal certainty is virtually impossible as the law can rarely contemplate or predict every event or set of circumstances that can arise.

This is particularly so in labour industries where economies and policies are constantly changing to accommodate the realities of the times.With so many sources of law and with employment laws perpetually evolving, obtaining a balance can be a mammoth task. However, because the labour market is constantly in a state of change, the need to maintain a balance between legal certainty and fairness for the purpose of avoiding conflict requires that the law changes to meet those challenges. What is legally certain and fair today may not be certain and fair tomorrow.

In this regard, the current law reflects the dynamics and demands of labour market changes and the constant demand for labour market reform. This research paper illustrates this best by critically assessing the current labour laws relative to employee status, contractual terms of employment, unfair dismissal and equality. These areas of employment law best illustrate the need for a variety of sources of flexible laws and the attending challenges for maintaining a balance between legal certainty and fairness.

Historically, the contract of employment makes provision for the basic employee/employer relationship. However, the terms and conditions of that contract have always been interpreted by reference to the statute, hence the significance of the term “status”.5 The fact is, although the employment status may be agreed to and reflected in an employment contract, the matter does not end there.