United Kingdom employment law has been drawn up for the protection of the legal rights of workers, protecting them from exploitation. Labour law is one of the oldest laws which protect workers. Modern labour law, quite developed by the nineteenth century, is based on facilitating contractual freedom of workers. Labour law can be seen either as an “individual” or a “collective” law. Individual law includes the basic rights of the people. The basic framework of employment law remained steady for about thirty years and provided only limited scope over trade union activities. Under the national minimum wage act of 1998, every worker in UK has the right to a minimum wage.

All these acts primarily have their origins in the Employment Rights Act, 1996. One of the main rights given to employees under this act is the right to fair dismissal- Employees cannot be unfairly dismissed. This is a very important right. The employee has the right to raise complaints to an employment tribunal. The employee should given reasonable notice before the termination of their employment contract. At present the employee should be intimated by a notice at least one week before dismissal.

A written contract is made a must since this act has been passed. This insists that the vital part of the contract must be written and must be given to the employee eight weeks before the start of work. This is called the ‘written statement of particulars’. This statement is a guide to the employee about his rights and he must be made fully aware of the terms and conditions. Time off rights must be given to the employee. This includes maternity leave and parental leave. The employee has the right to ask for flexible working. The right to redundancy payments must be given to the employee. The employment rights act ensures lost earnings compensation. Some other rights include paid off time for public duties, and dismissal from work due to health problems, disease or due to request of flexible working is considered to be unfair.

When it comes to wave and tidal power, the United Kingdom has enormous potential to become a worldwide leader in the proliferation and utilization of the boundless renewable energy found in the ocean. The northern coast of the UK is one of the world’s top locations capable of harnessing wave and tidal power in order to produce electricity.

Due to the United Kingdom’s location in the northern temperate zone, the waves which reach the nation’s shores are predictable. The winds far out at sea that create these waves are consistent and therefore easily measured. Available power that can be generated from the water’s renewable energy is anticipated from these measurements, and prime locations for wave farms are chosen from these findings. Thanks to the steady nature of the prevailing winds off the United Kingdom’s north shore, the resulting waves’ energy potential can be anticipated five days in advance.

Pondering water power as an alternative energy source is nothing new in the United Kingdom. The oil crisis of the 1970s prompted many researchers to turn to the possibilities of renewable energy. At the University of Edinburgh, Stephen Salter invented a wave energy converter nicknamed Salter’s Duck. This device was shaped like a teardrop and designed to bob on the ocean’s waves. The bobbing motion would swing a pendulum located inside the floating “duck”, producing electricity.

Currently, a project is underway in the United Kingdom known as the Wave Hub. Its intention is to demonstrate the methods by which wave power can be collected and transformed into electricity. As part of the Wave Hub, a variety of wave energy converters will be used to demonstrate the operation of wave power’s conversion to electricity. The devices will be tested in other areas, and upon completion of testing, be connected to the grid at locations agreed upon by the government. Over the course of several years, electricity production will be studied in order to determine the most efficient water energy converters. Not only does this allow researchers to develop effective methods by which to harness wave power, but the resulting electricity produced by the research is fed to the grid.