Employment Law:rights and obligations; health and safety; dismissal requirement; penalties on unfair dismissal - Essay Example

? Employment Law No: Roll No: Chris has worked for his local council for over eight years.  He is employed to perform a variety of tasks to do with waste enforcement and market inspection.  Chris has a good attendance record and has always received positive reports at his annual appraisals.  Four years ago Chris developed bi-polar disorder a mental condition that affects his mood and behaviour. Chris is managing to control the condition with strong drugs but has to be closely monitored by a mental health support team. Chris has informed his Human Resources Department at the council that he suffers from the condition. Recently Chris learnt that he has a new Line Manager, Bill.  Bill seems unsympathetic to Chris’s condition. Chris recently asked to be able to leave work at 4pm on a Friday to enable him to attend an appointment with his mental health team but Bill refused him permission to leave work early.  Chris left work anyway as he knew the importance of attending regular meetings.  Bill discovered that Chris left early and has put him on a disciplinary.  The stress caused by the impending disciplinary has caused a deterioration in Chris’s mental health.  He has started to behave strangely at work.  On arriving at work early one morning Chris overheard a conversation between several of his co-workers and Bill whereby they referred to him (Chris) as “looney-tunes”.  Chris was so upset to think that his co-workers and his Line Manager could talk about him in this fashion that he walked out of his employment. Identify and discuss all of the relevant employment law issues raised in the above scenario. What advice would you give to Chris?  Be sure to substantiate your answer by reference to decided cases. Employment Law In England Labour laws govern the legal relationship between the Master and the Servant. The troika of this relationship is comprised of the employers, employees and their Collective Bargaining Agents1. The employees drive their benefits from charter of employments meant for employees. Under the wage act 1998 they are entitled for minimum wage of around GBP 6.08 per hour, paid holidays of 28 days, working of 48 days in a week and fixed working hours of the day, enrolment in pension plan, enrolment in health plan, right of leave for child care and the right of soft working hours if need be in accordance with the employment rights acts 19962. The equality act 2010 empowers the employers to judge them by their potential of work and not to take into consideration race, gender, religious beliefs and disabilities. The employment rights act 1996 binds the employers to give one month notice to their employees after one year of their employment coupled with cogent reasons before firing. However, after two year of employment the employee has the right to claim compensation in terms of monetary benefits. In case of merger or acquisition of the company the Transfer of Undertakings Regulation 2006 ensure that the employment and other fringe benefits of the employee should not be in jeopardy3. Rights and Obligations The primary concern of UK labour laws is to make sure that the rights of the employees enumerated in the employment rights act 1996 shall not be usurped by the employers. The tradition draws a visible line between the self employment and the contractual employment. In contractual employment, the employee can be fired without convincing reason and without serving one month notice4. If fire of the employee found contrary to the mentioned acts, the aggrieved employee may invoke the competent jurisdiction for compensation against the damages that took place by the action of the employer. The court after careful perusal of the contract, labour laws, acts and the judgments in the similar cases shall dispose of the case in favour or against the employee or vice versa. English courts while reviewing the contract first examine the legality of relationship between the employer and the employees and the benefits associated with the employment contract besides the terms and conditions of the contract5. Health and Safety The employment contract must contain the term of provision of safety and security of an employee at workplace. The number of accidents at work place compels the legislators to enact laws for the safety and security of the workers and to create an environment where an employee can work without fear of any mishap. The factories act offered standard environment to a worker which improves their working efficiency6. The mentioned act addresses the issues of two sorts of employees a) general employee and b) those who are working in mines and textile mills. The Health and Safety Act 1974 have delegated the authority to the Inspector to ensure that the safety and security is in place as per the required standard set by the concerned ministry. For the purpose of strict vigilance, the employees may constitute workplace committees7. In this modern day and age the developed and the caring government focus on the better working condition so as to ensure their safety and security at work place. Absence of ideal working environment may attract compensation for the aggrieved worker in line with common and civil law8. The beauty of employment law of UK is that even the injured employees may claim the loss of their income of the injured period. Under compulsory insurance act 1969 an employee can be benefited under the insurance cover besides the right of initiation of litigation to claim compensation in case of indifferent attitude of the employer. In case an employee scuffle with another employee at work place, the employer is liable for the carelessness shown in selecting the quality staff. In the opinion of Lord Wright, fundamental rights mentioned in the contract employment make the employer absolutely responsible for compliance9. However, according to remedy available to an employer, if an employee found in illegal activities, may not claim compensation in case of dismissal or termination from service. In the case of Hewison v Meridian Shipping Services Pvt. Ltd wherein Mr. Hewison found concealment of his illness aims at to get gainful offshore employment. On disclosure of illness, he may fire from service and may not be able to claim compensation10. In the case of Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services Ltd it was held by the House of Lords that if any employer found responsible for increased harm to any employee, the employer could be liable to pay for the full payment of litigated amount. The competent court of law in the case of Chandler v Cape plc of the view that in case of subordinate company, the parent company will have to meet the obligations of the employee of a sister concern as far as health and safety of the work force is concerned11. Dismissal Requirement As per the common law or contractual law an employer can terminate the employment by serving one months notice period or one month payment in lieu of notice period. Contrary to that an employee who has many years of services in the same organization cannot be dismissed with one stroke of pen. There should be some solid reasons which are to be considered legally fair for the dismissal or termination from service of an employee12. The existing policy demands that the employee must have a year of continuous service and one month notice period is required to terminate the employee. There may be instances wherein an employee terminated by the employer on the grounds of trade union activity or for health reasons without fulfilling the requirement one year’s continuous service. The time period of notice under the employment rights act 1996 differs from case to case13. The longer period of contractual notice depends on the length of service of an employee. The employer may offer compensation against notice period for an early departure of an employee. In other wise cases where an employee found guilty of gross negligence or misconduct may be fired at once without serving any notice in advance14. To dismiss or to terminate an employee justifiably, one of the following reasons should be taken into account a) long term illness b) poor attendance c) disagreement over the renewed terms and conditions of the employment contract15. The employer should be careful and act fairly while terminating an employee. Lack of decision or to set aside the employment rules and regulation in dismissing the employee may culminate the sizable award of compensation from the competent court of law. It would be unfair on the part of an employee to terminate the services of an employee without taking into consideration the length of service of an employee for one of the given reasons a) trade union activist b) maternity leave c) irresponsible behaviour due to ill health d) refusal to do the assigned task e) transfer to other department due to poor performance16. It would also be an unfair on the part of an employer to dismiss the employee without justified reasons who have a year of continuous service. We have witnessed that in similar cases court award comfortable compensation to the aggrieved employee17. Penalties on Unfair Dismissal If competent court of law considers that the dismissal is unjustified due to impugned orders of the employer, the court may turn down the decision of the competent authority and order for reinstatement of employee or compensation for their illegal action. The compensation will be comprised of basic award plus compensation on the losses suffered by the employee which may be up to the extent of GBP of more than 50,000/-18. It is incumbent upon the employer to peruse the dismissal or termination order before issuance since it may result in the highest compensation than expected. It would be in the fitness of things if the employer should consult legal consultant on issuing the termination notice19. This would save them from time, money spent on litigation and the cumbersome court procedure. The end result of wrong dismissal or termination may come in the shape of lucrative compensation favouring the aggrieved employee20. Conclusion We have studied the cited employment law and other acts of employment threadbare and of the opinion that Mr. Chris left the employment due to indifferent attitude of Mr. Bill, the line manager. Mr. Bill made the life of Mr. Chris miserable and left no option for him to continue his service for a longer period of time. Had Mr. Bill keeping in mind the precarious health condition of Mr. Chris soften his attitude towards him, the situation would have been otherwise. Mr. Chris would definitely continue his work despite of his unhealthy condition. It would not be out of place to mention that Mr. Chris has a good track record of attendance and he used to get excellent appraisal every year. This is in recognition of his meritorious services rendered for the business promotion of his employer. Under the employment law Mr. Chris may file damages suit against Mr. Bill in a competent court of law for compensation for the losses suffered at the hands of Mr. Bill. Bibliography Alex Davies (ed), Workplace Law Handbook 2011: Employment Law and Human Resources (Workplace Law Group 2011). Bob Hepple, Labour Laws and Global Trade (Hart 2005). Keith Ewing, 'Job Security and the Contract of Employment' (1989) 18 ILJ 217. Henry H Perritt, 2006. Employee Dismissal Law and Practice (Aspen Publishers 2006). Hugh Collins, Justice in Dismissal (OUP 1992). Hugh Collins, Nine proposals for the reform of the law on unfair dismissal (Institute of Employment Rights 2004). Hugh Collins, Keith Ewing and Aileen McColgan, Labour Law, Text, Cases and Materials (2nd edn, Hart 2005). Mark Freedland, 'Employment' in H Beale et al. (ed), Chitty on Contracts (30th edn, Sweet and Maxwell 2009). Michael Duggan, Equality Act 2010: A Guide to the New Law (Law Society 2010). Simon Deakin and Gillian S. Morris, Labour Law (5th edn, Hart 2009). Read More