Can you and your business afford to take the risk?
Nobody likes to think of dealing with an unfair dismissal claim however, you must be aware of the risk to your business. In the past, employees had to be in service for a qualifying period of 12 months before bringing an unfair dismissal claim. On the 6th April 2012 this increased to 2 years. You may be forgiven for thinking that the pressure as an employer has been reduced.
THINK AGAIN– There is now no qualifying period if there is any element of discrimination or harassment.
The increase in the qualifying period will affect a large number of employees and it may lead to an increase in allegations of discrimination, as a result of employees trying to get around the qualifying period criteria. This change does not affect employees whose employment started before 6 April 2012.
- An employee appointed on 1 January 2012 can bring an unfair dismissal claim after one year’s service that is on or after 31 December 2012.
- An employee appointed on 6 April 2012 has to complete two years continuous service and therefore cannot bring an unfair dismissal claim before 5 April 2014.
PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS?
Good sensible management of your business may sound obvious but businesses who engage with their staff and deal with issues in a sensible and fair way will avoid problems more successfully. The courts look at the practices of the business when reviewing the claims and that includes hiring and firing, transfer, promotions, recruitment, training programs, pay, retirement plans, etc. Businesses and in particular managers needs to know and follow good practice.
Think about your business? Ensure that no employee would have cause to make complaint against you. Ensure that you offer the same employment opportunities and enforce the same policies for each employee. Here are some guidelines which may help:
– UNDERSTAND- Be familiar with discrimination laws and make sure you are compliant
– KEEP A RECORD- Put it in writing: Have a discrimination/equality and diversity policy. Employees should be required to read it and then sign a document stating that they understand the policy. Consequences for committing breaches should also be clearly stated.
– COMPLAINTS- Make sure all employees know the procedures for filing a complaint and then spell out what the steps will be to handle the situation.
The information here is a brief outline of the recent changes and we hope it highlights some of the issues you need to be aware of. We strongly urge you to protect your treasured businesses and ensure you do your upmost to comply with the law.
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