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Dismissal relating to the Working Time Regulations 1998
Broadly, the Regulations provide workers with the right
to paid leave, rest periods and breaks, as well as limiting the average hours
per week which they
can be
required to work.
Workers who are 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:
- refused (or proposed to refuse) to comply with a requirement
which the employer imposed (or proposed to impose) in contravention of the
Regulations;
- refused (or proposed to refuse) to forgo a right conferred
by the Regulations;
- failed to sign a workforce agreement or to make, vary
or continue any other agreement provided for in the Regulations; or
- performed
(or proposed to perform) any functions or activities as a workforce
representative
for the purposes of the Regulations, or as a candidate to be such a representative.
There is no qualifying period of service or age limit for employees who wish
to complain that they have been dismissed for one of these reasons.
Workers who are not employees can complain to an employment tribunal that
they have suffered a detriment if their contracts are terminated for any
of these
reasons, or for seeking to assert any rights conferred on them by the Regulations,
compensation being awarded on the same basis as for unfair dismissal. Both
employees and workers who are not employees are also protected from detrimental
action
or deliberate inaction by their employer falling short of dismissal or
termination of contract.
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