The aim of this unit is to equip the learner with an understanding of key legislation and governance requirements in the workplace, and the skills needed to support compliance in areas such as health and safety, data protection, and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI).
In short
Unit 316 Legislation and compliance is an optional Level 3 unit with five learning outcomes covering governance, health and safety, EDI and data protection, plus applying compliance practices — contributing to a risk assessment, handling data properly, briefing your team and promoting equity.
Level
RQF Level 3
Credit value
5 credits
Guided learning
25 hrs
Assessment criteria
16 criteria
To achieve unit 316 your portfolio must evidence every assessment criterion below. There is no exam and no written assignment — you demonstrate each criterion using evidence from your own work.
Learning outcome 1
Identify the principles of governance in an organisation
Explain the benefits to an organisation of effective governance
Evidence requirement: Evidence must include at least two benefits.
Describe the role of policies and procedures in maintaining good governance
Learning outcome 2
Explain the key principles of current health and safety legislation relevant to the workplace
Evidence requirement: Evidence must include at least two principles.
What this covers: Principles: duty of care, risk assessment, safe systems of work, training and information employee responsibilities, personal protective equipment (PPE), reporting and record-keeping, legal framework.
Explain the responsibilities of employers and employees under health and safety law
Describe the role of policies and procedures in supporting compliance with health and safety
Learning outcome 3
Identify current legislation that supports EDI in the workplace
Evidence requirement: Evidence must include at least two current legislations that supports EDI in the workplace.
What this covers: Identify current legislation that supports EDI in the workplace. Equity may also be referred to as Equality.
Describe how inclusive practice supports individual wellbeing and organisational performance
Evidence requirement: Evidence must include at least two descriptions.
Explain the consequences of failing to comply with EDI legislation
Learning outcome 4
Identify the principles of current data protection legislation
Describe how data protection requirements apply to an organisation
Identify the role of policy and procedure in maintaining data security
Learning outcome 5
Contribute to health and safety risk assessment
Evidence requirement: Evidence must include at least two examples of contributing to health and safety risk assessments.
Handle data in line with organisational policy
Communicate health and safety responsibilities to team members
Evidence requirement: Evidence must include at least two examples of communicating health and safety responsibilities to team members.
Promote equity in own area of work
Evidence requirement: Evidence must show at least two examples of promoting equity in own area of work.
What this covers: Promote equity in own area of work - Promoting equity raising awareness, challenging, ways of working, challenge unfair practice, model inclusive practice and behaviour, celebrate diversity.
Written by our assessment team: what the criteria mean in practice, the evidence that works, and where learners get caught out.
Unit 316 has five learning outcomes — more than any other Level 3 unit — but four of them are knowledge and only LO5 is practical. That makes it one of the more predictable units to plan: a substantial written piece covering governance, health and safety, EDI and data protection, plus four pieces of workplace evidence.
The four LO5 criteria are the ones to plan around, because each needs something real:
A single well-chosen episode can cover several: you contribute to a risk assessment for a new process, brief the team on what it means for them, and the briefing note plus the assessment covers 5.1 and 5.3 together.
| Learning outcome | Evidence that works well |
|---|---|
| LO1 — governance | Your organisation's governance principles, the benefits it gets from them, and the role your policies and procedures play |
| LO2 — health and safety | The key principles of current legislation, employer and employee duties, and how your policies support compliance |
| LO3 — EDI | Current legislation supporting EDI, how inclusive practice affects wellbeing and performance, and the consequences of non-compliance |
| LO4 — data protection | The principles of current data protection law, how they apply to your organisation, and the role of policy in data security |
| LO5 — apply compliance | A risk assessment you contributed to, a data-handling example, a team briefing, and an equity action you took |
Get the legal content right and current for Great Britain. The most common errors:
For 5.4 — promote equity in own area of work — be concrete. Changing a rota so it does not always disadvantage the same person, making a reasonable adjustment work in practice, ensuring development opportunities reach part-time staff, or rewording a task allocation that assumed physical capability. Equity is about adjusting for different starting points, which is exactly what 3.2's "inclusive practice" language points at, and distinguishing it from equality of treatment is worth a sentence.
Unit aim: The aim of this unit is to equip the learner with an understanding of key legislation and governance requirements in the workplace, and the skills needed to support compliance in areas such as health and safety, data protection, and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI).
Suggested learning resources: These suggestions are current at the time of publication. The following resources are provided as guidance only. Centres should select current and relevant resources and encourage learners in self-guided reading. Health and safety at work, Health and Safety Executive (HSE), n.d. HSE: Information about health and safety at work Equality and human rights commission, Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), n.d. Homepage | EHRC Advice and guidance for employers and employees, Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), n.d. Acas | Making working life better for everyone in Britain Guide to the UK general data protection regulation (UK GDPR), Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), n.d. Information Commissioner's Office
All evidence for the skills learning outcomes must be generated in the workplace or a realistic working environment, and must be valid and attributable to you.
This unit sits in the ILM Level 3 Leadership and Management suite (8723) and counts towards the pathways below, from £449.
What actually applies in your workplace: the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the 1999 management regulations, the Equality Act 2010 and its nine protected characteristics, and the UK GDPR with the Data Protection Act 2018 — not the repealed 1998 Act.
With a specific action: adjusting a rota that repeatedly disadvantaged one person, making a reasonable adjustment work in practice, ensuring development reaches part-time staff, or rewording a task allocation that assumed physical capability.
Yes. Unit 316 is a mandatory unit — every learner on the relevant pathway must complete it.
Assessment is a portfolio of evidence, centre-devised and internally set and marked. There are no exams and no written assignments.
All evidence for the skills learning outcomes must be generated in the workplace or a realistic working environment, and must be valid and attributable to you. Workplace documents, projects, reflective accounts, observation records and witness testimonies are all valid sources.
It counts towards the Level 3 Award, Level 3 Certificate, Level 3 Diploma, Level 3 Extended Diploma.
