“Unfair dismissal Light”

New rules on unfair dismissal are bouncing their way between parliament and the Lords like a pinball, but not much has changed from the original proposal and the government seems determined to introduce the right to claim unfair dismissal from day 1 of employment.

While this day 1 unfair dismissal right is a great headline grabber, it doesn’t actually do justice to the proposals, which to be fair are far from straightforward. The proposals, which are set to become law and will certainly need to be addressed by employers, are nothing new in reality. Such rights exist already where the reason for the dismissal is discrimination.

What is new, is that the proposal is introducing a form of “unfair dismissal light” or “low cal unfair dismissal”.  What comes out of the proposed Employment Bill is where an employee is in their initial period of employment then a streamlined or modified test will apply for unfair dismissal. 

The definition on Initial Period is as yet not set in stone, but the smart money is on this being 9 months.  This will be contained in the new section 98ZZA of the Employment Rights Act (now lovingly known in this office as the “Gazza Rule”).

What is not yet fixed, is what aspect of fairness will be dropped in the new modified procedure that applies in the initial period.

So to summarise the current position, employees will have the right to claim unfair dismissal against their employer from their very first day of employment, BUT during the initial period, the test for unfair dismissal will be less onerous on employers, but only for some reasons for dismissal. Which those reasons are (conduct/performance/SOSR etc) is yet to be finalised, although we have been given some pretty clear indications.

Everything you can, and need to know about the new regime, that will affect all employers, will be covered in plain English at our Employment Law Update on 14 January at Kingsholm in Gloucester. Places are limited and demand is high so book now by following this link.