Employment Rights: A Reference Handbook.

Grimes, Paul W.

The authors of this book set out to "provide a guide to peoples' rights at work" in the United Kingdom. The resulting volume is interesting to the American academic as a study in comparative systems. However, Painter and Puttick have clearly prepared their material for British readers and do not attempt to draw formal comparisons with the United States. Inevitably, comparisons to other European nations slip into the discussion throughout the book as the authors present the story of the on-going integration of the British labor market into the larger European Economic Community. Brief sketches of the historical background, in-depth explanations of the current legal framework (including both legislative and case law), and discussions of future trends are provided for every major aspect of the employment relationship in the U.K. Throughout 22 chapters, Painter and Puttick provide a worker's manual of individual employment rights, discrimination law, job loss, workplace health and safety, collective rights, and legal action.

Given the intended audience, Painter and Puttick implicitly assume that the reader is familiar with the British legal structure and institutions. American readers will have a difficult time fully understanding the intricate details of the U.K. judicial system from the material in this book. Although our institutions have much in common, differences in terminology and legal definitions of basic concepts can at times lead to confusion. For example, basic employment grievances under statutory law are heard by "Industrial Tribunals" for which there is no analogous institution in the U.S. Many American readers will also be unfamiliar with the concept of "redundancy payments" which British employers are legally required to make when workers are layed off or terminated from their jobs.

An example of differences in legal definitions concerns the scope of what constitutes pay discrimination. The U.S. has not sanctioned "comparable worth" as a basis for illegal gender discrimination, but in the U.K. a female worker can make the claim of discrimination if she receives pay less than a "man employed on work which is of equal value." Of course, the British courts have ruled on what constitutes "equal value" and how such a claim can be made. The authors do a very fine job illustrating this and every other area of employment rights with short examples drawn from the judicial record. In a very true sense this volume is a handbook and reference work for both employees and employers in the U.K.

From an academic perspective, the most interesting theme running throughout the volume is Painter and Puttick's discussion of how the U.K. legal system is being amended to conform to E.C. guidelines and laws. Recent trends under the Conservative government in Britain have been characterized by the deregulation of economic activity. In many respects this conflicts with the interventionist stance of E.C. social policy. The U.K. has made several legislative changes in its employment laws to bring them in line with the E.C. The most notable amendments have come in the areas of employment discrimination and redundancy payment reform. Painter and Puttick point out these and other recent changes and predict how they will impact the British worker. The authors also note that because the U.K. opted out of the Maastricht Treaty, "the rights of U.K. workers have suffered a potentially major setback" in the areas of education, health, and work safety. The unification of an established economy into a larger whole poses many challenges for all those involved as evidenced by the employment issues presented in these pages.

This book is a "must read" for someone contemplating employment opportunities in the U.K. Labor economists with an interest in comparative institutional arrangements will find much to think about in Painter and Puttick's work. A handbook such as this on the U.S. system would be a wonderful idea.

Paul W. Grimes Mississippi State University