Skills for Work: Rights and Responsibilities in the Workplace
Rights and Responsibilities in the Workplace is a Pearson Skills for Work unit in which learners find out about the rights and responsibilities of employees and employers, including legal rights, and how individuals take personal and social responsibility at work. It is one 10 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma, from Entry 1 to Level 2, and it is assessed internally through a centre set assignment. Digital demand is low. No assessment criterion needs technology; the digital work is searching for current information about rights from given or self-selected sources, checking that it applies in Wales, and acknowledging any sources and AI tools used.
- Awarding body
- Pearson
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 10
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): One assessment criterion at each of Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3, moving from listing examples of workplace rights and responsibilities and a way to take responsibility, to identifying rights and responsibilities for employees and employers and ways individuals can take responsibility. Evidence is chosen by the centre, which sets and marks the assessment; Pearson quality assures it through standards verification. 10 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at Level 1 (describe) and one at Level 2 (explain) how employees and employers can demonstrate taking responsibility for meeting workplace rights and responsibilities, including legal rights, across at least two (Level 1) or three (Level 2) workplace contexts. Evidence is chosen by the centre, which sets and marks the assessment; Pearson quality assures it through standards verification. 10 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
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Searching for information about workplace rights
Entry 3 learners gather information from given simple sources, and Level 2 learners identify, select and use information from a variety of sources, some of which they choose themselves. Pearson's mapping lists search as the unit's only digital link, so in practice learners search websites for rights at work. Using sources is described in the support guidance for each level, but no criterion requires the search to be digital.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils use given keywords to search a teacher chosen website for three rights a young worker has, and bookmark the pages they used.
- Year 8
- Pupils refine their search terms to find the rules on breaks and working hours for under 18s, and record which keywords gave the most useful results.
- Year 9
- Pupils search several sources, some they choose themselves, to find employer and employee responsibilities for one job, and save the links in a shared folder for later use.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfW 15, Levels of supervision and support before and during assessment, page 80; Annexe C, SfW 15 row, page 121
“They can identify, select, and use information from a variety of sources, including some self-selected.”
Progression step 3
I can adjust keywords and search techniques to find relevant information.
I can store search results for future use, e.g. bookmark, add to favourites.
Progression step 4
I can search a variety of sources using relevant search techniques with increased complexity.
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Checking that legal information is current and applies in Wales
The specification requires centres to make sure legislation used in teaching and assessment is current and relates to Wales, and Level 2 learners must give specific legal rights. Learners therefore need to judge whether an online source is up to date and covers Wales rather than another part of the UK or another country. This is a delivery requirement on the centre, not an assessment criterion.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content, Identity, image and reputation
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils look at two web pages about the minimum wage and find the date each was last updated, then decide which is more likely to be current.
- Year 8
- Pupils compare a UK government page with a page from another country about holiday entitlement and list the clues that show which applies in Wales.
- Year 9
- Pupils check three websites about young workers' rights for date, author and coverage, rank them for reliability and justify their ranking in writing.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Section 5 Units, page 11; Unit SfW 15, Essential information for assessment decisions, Level 2, page 80
“centres must ensure that it is current, up to date and relates to the legislative context of Wales”
Progression step 3
I can begin to reference sources used in my work, and consider if content is reliable.
I can think critically about information shared online, e.g. the impact of sharing images and videos, metadata of images and videos.
Progression step 4
I can evaluate the reliability of sources of information, justify my opinions and reasons for choices, and reference using appropriate methods.
Progression step 5
I can search efficiently for information for my digital work and evaluate the reliability of sources of information, justifying opinions and reasons for choices, and I can reference work using appropriate methods.
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Referencing sources and acknowledging AI use
At every level learners must certify that their evidence is their own and clearly reference any sources and any artificial intelligence used, and using AI without acknowledging it is malpractice. This applies to all evidence submitted for the unit rather than to a single criterion, so learners need to keep a record of the websites and tools they use while researching rights and responsibilities.
DCF: Digital rights, licensing and ownership, Sourcing, searching and planning digital content, Evaluating and improving digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils add a simple list of the websites they used, with page titles and links, to the end of a short fact sheet about rights at work.
- Year 8
- Pupils discuss why copying an AI answer about workplace rules would be plagiarism, then write a one line note acknowledging the AI tool they used to check a spelling.
- Year 9
- Pupils keep a research log of every source and AI tool used for a workplace rights task and turn it into a correctly formatted reference list.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfW 15, Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 81
“they have clearly referenced any sources and any artificial intelligence used”
Progression step 3
I can understand that copying the work of others and presenting it as my own is plagiarism.
I can cite sources when researching and explain the importance of this, e.g. create simple lists for the referencing of digital and offline sources.
Progression step 4
I can evaluate the reliability of sources of information, justify my opinions and reasons for choices, and reference using appropriate methods.
Progression step 5
I can refer appropriately to sources of information used in my digital work.
Good to know
- The unit is Unit SfW 15 and carries 10 guided learning hours in the unit summary: "SfW 15 Rights and responsibilities in the workplace 10" (Unit summary, page 5). The WJEC unit of the same name is 20 guided learning hours, so it fills a smaller share of an Award.
- A unit counts once only: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6).
- The specification gives only the assessment criteria and assessment guidance. The teaching content is in a separate document: "This can be found in the Teaching and Learning Support document for this unit" (Unit content, page 79).
- Evidence is the centre's choice: "there are no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 79).
- The Authorised Assignment Brief is optional: "AABs are not mandatory", and centres may adapt it or write their own brief (How to use this document, page 1).
- Legal content must be current and Welsh: centres "must ensure that it is current, up to date and relates to the legislative context of Wales" (Units, page 11).
- AI may be used only if acknowledged: "A learner will have committed malpractice if they use AI tools without acknowledging them" (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 81).
- The Skills for Work specification has editing slips: the assessment section says "Every unit in our Skills for Life qualifications includes an Authorised Assessment Brief" (Authorised Assignment Briefs, page 8), the contents page jumps from section 2 to section 4, and the units section points to "Section 6 Glossary" (page 11) although the glossary is section 7.
Links with other qualifications
The work on rights, equality and fairness links with GCSE Social Studies, and the work on employers, employees and legal duties gives context for GCSE Business. Pearson places the unit in its Developing adaptability and resilience group with Understanding the changing labour market, Using IT in the workplace and Wellbeing and work, and Using IT in the workplace is where workplace digital skills are taught and assessed. Compared with the WJEC Rights and Responsibilities in the Workplace unit, the Pearson unit is half the size (10 rather than 20 guided learning hours) and has one broad criterion per level instead of four learning outcomes; it does not separately require the employment contract or a search for an advice organisation's contact details, which is the one digital step in the WJEC unit.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Work Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfW 15: Rights and responsibilities in the workplace.