Lesson Plan

Resources → Subject Notes → Business Studies → Notes
Lesson Plan
Grade: Date: 25/02/2026
Subject: Business Studies
Lesson Topic: legal controls over employment issues: unfair dismissal, discrimination, health and safety, legal minimum wage
Learning Objective/s:
  • Describe the legal requirements for fair dismissal and the procedural steps an employer must follow.
  • Explain key forms of workplace discrimination and how employers can prevent them.
  • Identify employer duties under health and safety legislation and employee rights.
  • Calculate the legal minimum wage for different age categories and outline payroll record‑keeping obligations.
  • Apply the employer compliance checklist to evaluate a business’s adherence to employment law.
Materials Needed:
  • Projector and screen
  • PowerPoint presentation summarising legislation
  • Handout with summary tables (fair dismissal, discrimination, health & safety, minimum wage)
  • Case‑study worksheets for group analysis
  • Whiteboard and markers
  • Sticky notes for exit tickets
 Introduction:
Begin with a quick poll: “What rights do you think protect you at work?” Collect responses on sticky notes to link prior knowledge of contracts to broader legal controls. Explain that today’s success criteria are to identify key employment‑law protections and demonstrate how to apply them in real‑world scenarios.
Lesson Structure:
  1. Do‑now (5’) – Students answer the poll on workplace rights; teacher records ideas.
  2. Mini‑lecture (15’) – Overview of unfair dismissal: qualifying period, fair reasons, procedural fairness (using a flowchart).
  3. Case‑study activity (10’) – Groups analyse a dismissal scenario, identify missing steps, and present findings.
  4. Discrimination & Health & Safety briefing (15’) – Slide deck covering protected characteristics, forms of discrimination, employer duties for safety; brief Q&A.
  5. Minimum wage calculation (10’) – Students compute pay for different worker categories using provided tables and discuss record‑keeping.
  6. Checklist consolidation (5’) – Whole‑class review of the employer compliance checklist; students complete an exit‑ticket.
Conclusion:
Recap how the four legal controls interrelate and why they are essential for both employers and employees. Students complete an exit ticket naming one action they will take to improve compliance in a simulated business. Homework: research a recent UK employment‑law case and prepare a brief report.