Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2012/January 2013 | Page 142

Legal Issues with Roach Pittis Solicitors By Lee Peckham Be aware of your employment rights As we approach Christmas many employers will be looking at their figures for the year and this can often lead to a spike in redundancies. It is clearly crucial that both employers and employees are aware of employment rights. As some may be aware, in order to make an ordinary or straightforward unfair dismissal claim, you need qualifying service. As employment law is such a dynamic and ever-changing area of law and, with the Government’s desire to help employers as much as possible in the current economic climate, it may not surprise you that the length of this period changed on April 6 from one to two years. It means that if someone was employed before this date, then the period of continuous employment required to bring a statutory claim is one year, and if a person was employed on or after this date then the required period is two years. Continuous employment usually means working for the same employer without a break. However, employment may be regarded as continuous despite short breaks and sometimes time spent with an associated employer can be added on. As long as an employee is entitled to present a complaint of unfair dismissal to the Tribunal, the burden then falls upon the employer to establish that the only or principal reason for the dismissal was a potentially fair reason. There are a number of potentially fair reasons for dismissing an employee and they include redundancy, 142 www.visitislandlife.com capability or qualifications and the conduct of the employee. If the employer can establish that the dismissal is for one of the potentially fair reasons, the Tribunal have to enquire as to whether the employer acted reasonably in reaching their decision to dismiss. Unfair dismissal is of course only one facet to a very broad spectrum of employment problems; there are many others including wrongful dismissal, the transfer of undertakings, discrimination and harassment in the work. Roach Pittis acts for both employers and employees in a range of employment disputes and has broad experience in dealing with such matters. If you find yourself in a position where you require legal advice relating to employment issues, then contact the specialist team at Roach Pittis who will be happy to deal with the case. If you are an employee, then in certain specific cases we may be able to deal with your matter on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis, or at least provide initial advice by way of an agreed fixed fee. Remember though, that in most cases there is a strict three-month deadline to make a claim after being dismissed, so employees must seek legal advice early. Roach Pittis Solicitors 62-66 Lugley Street, Newport PO30 5EU 01983 524431 Email: [email protected] www.roachpittis.co.uk