Lawyer Destroyer Short answer Under the law as it currently stands in England and Wales, there is no general statutory right to be paid simply because a zero-hours shift has been cancelled. Whether you are entitled to anything depends primarily on the terms of your contract and on exactly what was agreed, and on whether the shift … Read more
Short answer In most cases, yes. If your employer requires you to carry out tasks such as opening up, closing down, setting up, or cleaning before or after your rostered shift, that time will normally count as working time. It must be paid, and it counts towards your entitlement to the National Minimum Wage or … Read more
Short answer Generally no. If the placement is a required part of a UK-based higher or further education course, and it does not exceed one year, the student does not qualify for the National Minimum Wage for work done for the employer as part of that course. This is a specific exemption set out in … Read more
The core issue: worker status Whether an unpaid internship is lawful in England and Wales turns almost entirely on one question: is the intern a “worker” for the purposes of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998? The label “intern”, “work experience”, “placement”, “unpaid” or “expenses only” has no legal significance in itself. If the arrangement … Read more
Short answer There is no simple yes or no. Whether you must be paid for a trial shift depends on whether, during that trial, you are legally a “worker” doing “work” for the employer. If you are, you are entitled to at least the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage for the hours worked, … Read more
Short answer Since 1 October 2024, if you are a worker in England and Wales, you are generally entitled to a fair share of the tips, gratuities and service charges that your employer receives, and your employer is not allowed to keep them or make deductions from them (other than tax). This comes from the … Read more
Overview Rest breaks and maximum working hours in England and Wales are governed by the Working Time Regulations 1998. These give most workers, not just employees, entitlements to a maximum average working week, daily and weekly rest, and rest breaks during the working day. Some categories of worker are excluded or subject to modified rules, … Read more
The general rule on deductions from wages An employer cannot simply help itself to money from your pay. Under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, an employer may only make a deduction from a worker’s wages if one of the following applies: 1. The deduction is required or authorised by statute (for example, … Read more
Short answer In most situations a university in England and Wales cannot share your personal information with your parents without your consent. As an adult student, your personal data is protected by the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and the university is the data controller for your information. That means it generally … Read more
Overview Your university disability, counselling and welfare records are personal data about you, and much of the information in them (health, mental health, disability, therapy notes) is “special category data” under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. Special category data attracts stronger protection and generally cannot be shared without … Read more
Short answer Yes, in most cases you can obtain the emails and evidence relied on against you, but the route and the extent of what you receive depend on which mechanism you use. There are really two overlapping avenues: your right to disclosure of the case against you as part of a fair internal misconduct … Read more
Short answer You have a right to some of this material but not all of it. Under the UK GDPR right of access, you can obtain your own marks, the examiner’s comments about your performance, moderation and appeal records that constitute your personal data, but you generally cannot obtain a copy of the answers you … Read more
Short answer Yes. Under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 you have a right of access to the personal data your university holds about you, and you can ask for all of it in a single subject access request (SAR). However, a SAR gives you a right to your personal data, not … Read more
Overview of the four categories Employment status in England and Wales is not a matter of what a contract or an employer calls you. It is decided by looking at the reality of the working relationship. There are, in practice, four categories that matter, and they carry very different rights. Employee is the narrowest and … Read more
Overview The protection you have when a job ends does not depend on the fact that you are a student. What matters is your employment status, how long you have worked there, why the job is ending, and what your contract says. A “student job” is usually part-time or fixed-term work, but the same core … Read more
Short answer No, in general there is no legal right in England and Wales requiring an employer to give you time off specifically to sit university examinations. Whether you can take time off usually depends on your contract, your employer’s policies, and negotiation, rather than a statutory entitlement. There are some limited situations where a … Read more
Short answer In most cases, no. As a general rule you own the copyright in your own dissertation and in the words and original content of a presentation you have created. That means your university, a lecturer, another student, or anyone else usually cannot lawfully publish your dissertation or a recording of your presentation to … Read more
Short answer Yes, a university can lawfully monitor aspects of your use of its IT systems, but its powers are not unlimited. It can monitor and, in defined circumstances, access university email, files, and network and Wi-Fi traffic that pass through systems it owns or provides. What it cannot do is monitor without a lawful … Read more
Overview Problems with online proctoring software generally fall into two broad situations, and the right approach depends on which you are facing. The first is a technical failure during an assessment, for example the software crashing, your camera or connection dropping, the system flagging you incorrectly, or you being unable to complete or submit the … Read more
Short answer A university in England and Wales can lawfully monitor attendance and, in principle, use biometric systems or key-fob and card-swipe data, but only within tight limits set by data protection law. Biometric attendance in particular is legally difficult to justify because it involves special category data, and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has … Read more
