(1)In this Act—
“contract of employment” means a contract of service or of apprenticeship,
“employee” means an individual who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, worked under) a contract of employment, and
“employer”, in relation to an employee, means the person by whom the employee is (or, where the employment has ceased, was) employed.
(2)Subsection (1) has effect subject to section 235 and other provisions conferring a wider meaning on “contract of employment” or related expressions.
(1)In this Act “worker” means an individual who works, or normally works or seeks to work—
(a)under a contract of employment, or
(b)under any other contract whereby he undertakes to do or perform personally any work or services for another party to the contract who is not a professional client of his, or
(c)in employment under or for the purposes of a government department (otherwise than as a member of the naval, military or air forces of the Crown) in so far as such employment does not fall within paragraph (a) or (b) above.
(2)In this Act “employer”, in relation to a worker, means a person for whom one or more workers work, or have worked or normally work or seek to work.
For the purposes of this Act any two employers shall be treated as associated if—
(a)one is a company of which the other (directly or indirectly) has control, or
(b)both are companies of which a third person (directly or indirectly) has control;
and “associated employer” shall be construed accordingly.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
“act” and “action” each includes omission, and references to doing an act or taking action shall be construed accordingly;
“contravention” includes a failure to comply, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly;
“dismiss”, “dismissal” and “effective date of termination”, in relation to an employee, shall be construed in accordance with section 55 of the [1978 c. 44.] Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978;
“post” means a postal service which—
is provided by the Post Office or under a licence granted under section 68 of the [1981 c. 38.] British Telecommunications Act 1981, or
does not by virtue of an order made under section 69 of that Act (suspension of postal privilege) infringe the exclusive privilege conferred on the Post Office by section 66(1) of that Act;
“tort”, as respects Scotland, means delict, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly.
In this Act the expressions listed below are defined by or otherwise fall to be construed in accordance with the provisions indicated—
| ACAS | section 247(1) |
| act and action | section 298 |
| advertisement (in sections 137 to 143) | section 143(1) |
| appropriately qualified actuary (in sections 38 to 41) | section 42 |
| associated employer | section 297 |
| branch or section (of trade union) | section 119 |
| collective agreement and collective bargaining | section 178(1) |
| the Commissioner | section 266 |
| contract of employment | |
| —generally | section 295(1) |
| —in sections 226 to 234 | section 235 |
| —in relation to Crown employment | section 273(4)(a) |
| —in relation to House of Lords or House of Commons staff | sections 277(4) and 278(4)(a) |
| contravention | section 298 |
| the court (in Part I) | section 121 |
| date of the ballot (in Part V) | section 246 |
| dismiss and dismissal | |
| —generally | section 298 |
| —in relation to Crown employment | section 273(4)(c) |
| —in relation to House of Commons staff | section 278(4)(b) |
| effective date of termination | section 298 |
| employee | |
| —generally | section 295(1) |
| —in relation to Crown employment | section 273(4)(a) |
| —in relation to House of Commons staff | section 278(4)(a) |
| —excludes police service | section 280 |
| employer | |
| —in relation to an employee | section 295(1) |
| —in relation to a worker | section 296(2) |
| —in relation to health service practitioners | section 279 |
| employment and employment agency (in sections 137 to 143) | section 143(1) |
| executive (of trade union) | section 119 |
| financial year (in Part VI) | section 272 |
| general secretary | section 119 |
| independent trade union (and related expressions) | section 5 |
| list | |
| —of trade unions | section 2 |
| —of employers' associations | section 123 |
| Northern Ireland union (in Part I) | section 120 |
| not protected (in sections 222 to 226) | section 219(4) |
| officer | |
| —of trade union | section 119 |
| —of employers' association | section 136 |
| official (of trade union) | section 119 |
| offshore employment | section 287 |
| place of work (in Part V) | section 246 |
| political fund | section 82(1)(a) |
| political resolution | section 82(1)(a) |
| post | section 298 |
| prescribed | section 293(1) |
| president | section 119 |
| recognised, recognition and related expressions | section 178(3) |
| redundancy (in Part IV, Chapter II) | |
| —generally | section 195 |
| —in relation to Crown employment | section 273(4)(d) |
| representative (of trade union) (in Part IV, Chapter II) | section 196 |
| rules (of trade union) | section 119 |
| strike (in Part V) | section 246 |
| tort (as respects Scotland) | section 298 |
| trade dispute | |
| —in Part IV | section 218 |
| —in Part V | section 244 |
| trade union | section 1 |
| undertaking (of employer) | |
| —in relation to Crown employment | section 273(4)(e) and (f) |
| —in relation to House of Commons staff | section 278(4)(c) and (d) |
| worker | |
| —generally | section 296(1) |
| —includes health service practitioners | section 279 |
| —excludes police service | section 280 |
| working hours (in Part V) | section 246 |