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,
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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