Call us now on
0207 374 6546
mob: 07809 694 400 e: hina@partnerslaw.co.uk
We have put together a series of blogs to discuss the various protections an employee may have when they raise health and safety concerns. It is important for all HR professionals and businesses to understand the protections afforded to employees and the employment law implications of employees raising health and safety concerns so as to limit risk and avoid costly court claims.
Today’s focus is on automatically unfair health and safety dismissals.
Certain dismissals related to the raising of health and safety concerns amount to automatically unfair dismissals. The right applies to actual and constructive unfair dismissals. There is no qualifying service requirement and compensation is uncapped.
The right not to be unfairly dismissed on this basis stems from the European Health and Safety Directive 89/391/EEC (European Health and Safety Directive). Under the ERA 1996, this right only applies to employees. However, the fact that workers who are not employees are not protected is arguably in conflict with the European Health and Safety Directive, which aims to protect workers, which has an autonomous meaning under EU law. We understand that the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has written a pre-action protocol letter to the Department for Work and Pensions in which it threatens judicial review proceedings on the basis that the European Health and Safety Directive has not been fully implemented given the gaps in protection for workers who are not employees.
Section 100 of the ERA 1996 protects employees by providing that dismissal shall be automatically unfair where the reason for the dismissal is one of the following reasons:
Call us now on
Partners Employment Lawyers is not a firm of solicitors. Members of Partners Employment Lawyers are consultants at Excello Law Limited and legal services are provided by Excello Law Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under SRA number 652733.
Privacy policy | Cookie Policy | Complaints policy | Employment Tribunal pricing