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Dismissal related to Adoption Leave
Employees are protected
from suffering a detriment or dismissal for taking, or seeking
to take, adoption
leave. Employees
who believe they have been treated unfairly for
these reasons can
complain
to an employment tribunal regardless of their length
of service. Employees who are not given their job
back at
the end of
ordinary adoption leave are entitled to make a
complaint of unfair dismissal,
regardless of their length of service.
It is unlawful
for an employer to dismiss an employee because:
- they took or
sought to take adoption leave or
- their employer believes
that they are likely to take adoption leave or
- the employee
failed to return after a period of additional adoption leave
and:
- their employer failed to give them
appropriate notice of their return
date and they reasonably
believed that
the period
had not
ended; or
- their employer gave them
less than 28 days notice of the date on which
their adoption
leave would
end, and
it was
not reasonably
practicable for them to return
on that date.
This protection against dismissal
also applies if an employee is selected
for redundancy on
these grounds.
If a redundancy situation arises
during an employee's ordinary or
additional
adoption
leave which makes
it impractical
for their employer to continue to
employ them under their original
contract,
the employee is entitled to be offered
a suitable alternative vacancy where
there is one. The
offer should be made
before the original
contract ends and the new contract
must take effect immediately when
the original
contract
does end.
If the employer fails to
offer a suitable alternative vacancy and
there is one,
the redundancy will
be regarded as unfair
dismissal.
If the employee unreasonably turns
down a suitable alternative vacancy,
they
may give up their
right to a redundancy
payment.
An employee may make a
complaint about redundancy during adoption
leave to
an employment tribunal.
Dismissal
relating to the right to request Flexible Working arrangements
It
is unlawful for an employer to dismiss an employee irrespective
of their age
or length
of service
if the reason or the
main reason for the dismissal
is that:
- they made an application to work flexibly
under the right
- their application to work flexibly has been
granted
- they have made or have stated their intention to
make a complaint to an employment
tribunal in respect of their application to work flexibly.
This protection
against dismissal also applies if an employee is selected
for redundancy on these grounds.
It is also unlawful for an employer
to subject
an employee to any other detrimental
treatment
on these
grounds.
Dismissal relating
to Parental
Leave
The Maternity
and Parental
Leave
etc. Regulations
1999 give employees
the
right not to
be dismissed
where
the reason,
or the main
reason is that
they:
- took or sought to take parental leave;
- declined to sign
a workforce agreement for the purposes of the Maternity
and Parental Leave Regulations 1999;
- performed (or proposed to perform) any
functions or activities as
a workforce representative or candidate for the purposes of the Regulations.
There is no qualifying period of service or upper age limit
for employees who wish to complain that they have been
dismissed for one of these
reasons. It is also unlawful for an employer to subject
an employee to any other
detrimental
treatment
for any
of these reasons.
Dismissal
relating to
Time Off
for Dependants
The
Maternity and
Parental Leave
etc. Regulations
1999 give
employees the
right not
to be
dismissed where
the reason,
or the
main reason
is that
they exercised
their right
to take
time off
to deal
with certain
circumstances involving
a dependant.
There
is no
qualifying period
of service
or upper
age limit
for employees
who wish
to complain
that they
have been
dismissed for
this reason.
It is
also unlawful
for an
employer to
subject an
employee to
any other
detrimental treatment
for this
reason.
Dismissal
relating to
the Tax
Credits Act
2002
From
April 2003,
the Tax
Credits Act
2002 introduces
working tax
credit. Employees
will be
held to
be unfairly
dismissed (or
selected for
redundancy) if
the reason,
or the
main reason,
for the
dismissal is:
- that they are entitled, or will or may be
entitled, to working
tax credit; or
- that they took (or proposed to take) any action with a view
to
enforcing or otherwise securing a right conferred by regulations under the
Tax Credits
Act
2002;
or
- from the same date, that their employer was prosecuted
or fined
as a result of such action.
There is no qualifying
period of service or upper age limit
for employees
who wish to complain
that they have been
dismissed for one of these
reasons.
This protection
applies to individuals who are
employees within
the meaning of
the Employment Rights
Act 1996. It is also
unlawful for an employer
to subject such employees to
any other detrimental treatment.
In addition, individuals
who are
not employees within the
meaning of
the 1996 Act, but
who are employees
within the meaning
of the Tax Credits
Act 2002, are protected against
detrimental treatment
(including the termination
of their contracts).
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