Legislation – Employment Rights Act 2025

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Part 5Enforcement of labour market legislation

Interpretation of this Part

151Interpretation: general

(1)

In this Part—

“the Advisory Board” means the Advisory Board established under section 93;

“ancillary offence”, in relation to an offence under any provision of relevant labour market legislation, means—

(a)

an offence of attempting or conspiring to commit such an offence;

(b)

an offence under Part 2 of the Serious Crime Act 2007 in relation to such an offence;

(c)

an offence of inciting a person to commit such an offence;

(d)

an offence of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of such an offence;

“business” includes—

(a)

a trade or profession, and

(b)

any activity carried on by a body of persons (whether corporate or unincorporated);

“employee” means an individual who is an employee within the meaning of section 230(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 or Article 3(1) of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (S.I. 1996/1919 (N.I. 16));

“employer” has the meaning given by subsection (2);

“employers’ association” has the same meaning as in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (see section 122 of that Act);

“enactment” means an enactment whenever passed or made, and includes—

(a)

an enactment contained in subordinate legislation,

(b)

an enactment contained in, or in an instrument made under, a Measure or Act of the National Assembly for Wales or an Act of Senedd Cymru,

(c)

an enactment contained in, or in an instrument made under, an Act of the Scottish Parliament, and

(d)

an enactment contained in, or in an instrument made under, Northern Ireland legislation;

“enforcement function”, in relation to the Secretary of State, has the meaning given by section 91;

“enforcement officer” has the meaning given by section 90(3);

“GCHQ” has the same meaning as in the Intelligence Services Act 1994;

“intelligence service” means—

(a)

the Security Service;

(b)

the Secret Intelligence Service;

(c)

GCHQ;

“labour market offence” means—

(a)

an offence under any provision of relevant labour market legislation, or

(b)

an ancillary offence relating to such an offence;

“the liable party”, in relation to a notice of underpayment, has the meaning given by section 103(1);

“LME order” has the meaning given by section 123(2);

“LME undertaking” has the meaning given by section 119(3);

“non-compliance with relevant labour market legislation” has the meaning given by section 150; and any reference to a failure to comply with relevant labour market legislation is to be read accordingly;

“notice of underpayment” has the meaning given by section 103(2);

“premises” has the meaning given by subsection (3);

“the relevant day”, in relation to a notice of underpayment, has the meaning given by section 103(1);

“relevant labour market legislation” means the labour market legislation listed in Part 1 of Schedule 7;

“respondent”, in relation to an LME order, has the meaning given by section 123(2);

“statutory pay provision” has the meaning given by section 103(7);

“subject”, in relation to an LME undertaking, has the meaning given by section 119(3);

“subordinate legislation” has the meaning given by section 21(1) of the Interpretation Act 1978;

“trade union” has the same meaning as in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (see section 1 of that Act);

“underpaid individual”, in relation to a notice of underpayment, has the meaning given by section 103(1);

“worker” (except in section 102) has the meaning given by subsection (5).

(2)

In this Part “employer” means any of the following—

(a)

an employer within the meaning of section 230(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 or Article 3(4) of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (S.I. 1996/1919 (N.I. 16));

(b)

a person who is an employer for the purposes of Part 4A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 in relation to a worker mentioned in section 43K(2) of that Act;

(c)

a person who is an employer for the purposes of Part 5A of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 in relation to a worker mentioned in Article 67K(2) of that Order;

(d)

a person who is the principal for the purposes of section 47A or 63A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 or Article 70A or 91A of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (right to time off for young person for study or training);

(e)

a person who is—

(i)

an employer for the purposes of Chapter 3 or 4 of Part 2A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (zero hours workers) by virtue of section 27BJ(7) or (as the case may be) 27BP(8) of that Act,

(ii)

an employer in relation to a zero hours arrangement within the meaning of Part 2A of that Act (see section 27BZ2(1) of that Act), or

(iii)

an employer in relation to a non-contractual zero hours arrangement within the meaning of Article 59A of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996;

(f)

in relation to an individual who is an agency worker within the meaning of Part 2A of the Employment Rights Act 1996—

(i)

a person who is the hirer within the meaning of any Part of Schedule A1 to that Act (agency workers: guaranteed hours and rights relating to shifts);

(ii)

a work-finding agency within the meaning of Schedule A1 to that Act (see section 27BV(4) of that Act);

(iii)

a relevant person within the meaning of section 47I of that Act (agency workers and Schedule A1 rights);

(g)

in relation to an individual who is an agency worker within the meaning of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/93) or the Agency Workers Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011 (S.R. (N.I.) 2011 No. 350)—

(i)

the hirer within the meaning of the relevant Regulations;

(ii)

(where the worker is not actually employed by the temporary work agency) the temporary work agency within the meaning of the relevant Regulations;

(h)

in relation to an individual seeking to be employed by a person as a worker, that person.

(3)

In this Part “premises” includes any place and, in particular, includes—

(a)

any vehicle, vessel, aircraft or hovercraft;

(b)

any tent or movable structure;

(c)

any offshore installation;

(d)

any renewable energy installation.

(4)

In subsection (3)—

“offshore installation” has the same meaning as in the Mineral Workings (Offshore Installations) Act 1971;

“renewable energy installation” has the meaning given by section 104 of the Energy Act 2004.

(5)

In this Part “worker” means any of the following—

(a)

a worker within the meaning of section 230(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 or Article 3(3) of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (S.I. 1996/1919 (N.I. 16));

(b)

an individual who is not a worker as defined by section 230(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 but who is a worker for the purposes of Part 4A of that Act (see section 43K(1) of that Act);

(c)

an individual who is not a worker as defined by Article 3(3) of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 but who is a worker for the purposes of Part 5A of that Order (see Article 67K(1) of that Order);

(d)

an individual who—

(i)

is a worker for the purposes of Chapter 3 or 4 of Part 2A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (zero hours workers) by virtue of section 27BJ(7) or (as the case may be) 27BP(8) of that Act,

(ii)

works under a zero hours arrangement within the meaning of Part 2A of that Act (see section 27BZ2(1) of that Act), or

(iii)

works under a non-contractual zero hours arrangement within the meaning of Article 59A of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996;

(e)

an individual who is an agency worker within the meaning of Part 2A of the Employment Rights Act 1996;

(f)

an individual who is an agency worker within the meaning of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/93) or the Agency Workers Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011 (S.R. (N.I.) 2011 No. 350);

(g)

an individual seeking to be employed by a person as a worker.