ABOUT
EMPLOYMENT LAW SERVICES
Frank Irons , has been an
Employment Law Practitioner since 1994 now semi retired. Relevant
experience with Citizens Advice Bureaux, Solicitors and Employment Law
specialists , Kent Law Clinic and on his own account with private cases.
He now lives in Canterbury Kent
WHAT HE CAN DO
Frank Irons, Employment Law Services will give legal
advice free by e-mail on all matters concerning Unfair Dismissal , including
Constructive Dismissal, all forms of sex , race , age,
disability and gender discrimination , victimisation, wage
deductions, Transfers of Employment (TUPE), Equal Pay and breaches of
contract. He cannot represent you at tribunal but he can assist you
prepare a case.
DO IT YOURSELF
Please see the next page of this site , which will help
if you want to run your own case for Unfair Dismissal in an Employment
Tribunal, rather than employ a solicitor on a fee or a no win- no fee
agent. Its definitely worth
considering if you have a straight -forward Unfair Dismissal case and
/or your money Claim is modest - a solicitor will charge you up
£250 per hour to prepare your case , a good
employment
solicitor will represent you personally in tribunal , but other
solicitors will Instruct a Barrister, typically another £500-
£1000 a day including the additional time the
solicitor takes to
prepare the Instruction. A no win -no fee arrangement is
typically up to 30% commission based on a single day case but will increase with
the length of the hearing- this can eat substantially into awards. Its definitely
worth having a go - the ET process is cost free from the point of entry
and throughout and although costs can be awarded this happens very rarely and only if you
act unreasonably. There are checks and balances build in , for instance
you will be warned by the Tribunal if your case has no prospect of success
and given a choice to continue. Only then will costs be a risk on the
merits of your case. If you misbehave in the process then expect
costs orders to be made against you but then that is up to you. I
have seen adverts from legal services ( brokerage firms generally) which
emphasise unduly the risk of costs being awarded against you if you make
your own claim. That's a mis-representation - costs are very seldom
awarded and only then in very exceptional cases of complete intransigence.
HOW TO RUN YOUR
OWN CLAIM
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Unfair
Dismissal
An employer dismisses an employee without carrying out a statutory
or a fair process, or indeed any process and without sufficient
reason, or for an non -permissible reason. Some or sometimes all of
these reasons form the core of most Unfair Dismissals. A potentially
fair dismissal occurs when the employer has used an allowable reason
and carried out a Fair process, including the statutory
process. One year of service is required to have the right to Claim
except in certain circumstances , i.e. dismissal following
complaints about statutory entitlements, discrimination, safety, TU
Activities , Public Interest Disclosures etc. Check for specific
jurisdictions.
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Constructive Dismissal
An employer treats an employee so badly that the
employee is entitled to resign because of that conduct. The employer's
conduct has to be sufficient to allow a Claimant to say that the
employer has repudiated one or more main terms of the contract or has
fundamentally breached the terms of trust and confidence. One
year of service required and before making a claim to ET a grievance
must be lodged relating to the alleged breach of contract or Trust and
the Claim must not be made within the next 28 days. Time in which to
make a claim extends by a further 3 months. This is a difficult
jurisdiction with the burden of proof on the Claimant and is not to
be entered into without clear evidence of the employer's
misbehaviour. Its important not to stay in employment past the point
where the breach, or more likely the breakdown in Trust occurs, to
do so will run the risk of affirming the breach.
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Discrimination
Discrimination occurs when an employer acts towards
a person in a manner which is less favourable for a reason related to
the sex, race, gender , age , part time status or disability
etc of that
employee, and that reason would not, or did not, apply to another
person who was not
unfavourably treated ( i.e. a Comparator). No service requirement,
including refusal to employ. There are two entries into this Statute 1)
The Complainant has been subjected to discriminatory treatment short
of dismissal and is still employed or 2) The Complainant has
been dismissed for a discriminatory reason. In the first entry a grievance
must be lodged with the employer ( which extends time to claim)
however a dismissal does not require a grievance BUT time does not
extend to make a Claim.
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| Equal Pay -Equal Pay Act 1970
Generally this effects woman in comparison with men
, particularly in Industries which historically have paid men
more than women for like or equal value work. I can do no better in
describing the working of this now elderly Act than providing a link to
the excellent Thompsons Solicitors web entry on this topic. A tiresome
and cumbersome jurisdiction from a bygone era for everyone and long past its
sell by date. Equal Pay Act
-Thompsons
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| Transfer of an Undertaking
An employee has the right to have their contract of employment
transferred
when a contract is taken over by another service provider ( i.e.
cleaning, catering or security services etc ) or when the business in
which they are employed is subject to a transfer of assets ( but
not on purchase of shares)
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Redundancy A permitted reason for dismissal. Redundancy occurs when work of a
particular kind carried out by an employer, either ceases or
diminishes and the employer has a need to reduce staffing. An
employer has to show that the selection process he used was both fair
and objective and that he had consulted adequately with affected
employees or workplace representatives
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Wages, Notice and other contractual sums
A Claim can be made to an
employment tribunal for any sum owing at the end of the contract ,
usually unpaid notice , holiday pay or arrears of wages or
expenses. If the contract still exists ( i.e. still
employed) this does not prevent you claiming against your
employer. No minimum period of service is required either within
the employment or at the end of employment.
Examples of claims existing after dismissal are deductions from
final pay , failure to pay Notice or Redundancy Payments or other
severance payments , holiday arrears and outstanding expense claims etc.
Unlawful deductions within employment are typically failure to
pay agreed wages, holiday pay , contractual or other sick pay , agreed
bonuses , commissions , expenses etc. None of these claims, with
the exception of a
claim for notice pay, can be sent to an employment tribunal unless you
first raise a grievance
with your employer, either before or after the contract terminates. You
must then wait 28 days before making an ET Claim. Time limits apply
also to
these claims- 3 months from the failure to pay or in the case of a
series of "deductions" , 3 months from the date of the
last deduction. Do not rely on any extensions of time
you may have heard about - they do exist but it is always better
to get the Claim registered within the first 3 month
period, even if you are appealing a decision. Employers sometimes delay appeal
processes to push claimants out of time.
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uploaded 12/11/08
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