UK Employment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

UK Employment Law - Essay Example Under UK employment laws , an employee is one who is working under a contract of employment and the contract may be in writing, or it may be implicit subject to terms and conditions mentioned under the employment contract . Before the enactment of the Industrial Relations Act 1971 and the Employment Protection (consolidation) Act 1978, an employer had unlimited rights to dismiss an employee for any reason or for no reason with few exceptions . However , scenarios have changed a lot after introduction of the abovementioned legislations. Now, if an employer has terminated an employment contract of an employee either under unfair dismissal or under wrongful dismissal, an employee can seek relief under any of the following processes ; a claim can be made under common law for wrongful dismissal , or a claim can be made under ERA (Employment Rights Act) 1996 for unfair dismissal or a claim can be mader under Pt XI for redundancy or Pt II under ERA,1996 . Though , under UK law , an employer is legally entitled to dismiss an employee whenever he wishes and for whatever reasons, provided that he gives due notice in this regard but this right has to be used judiciously and without ulterior intention . If an employer has not conducted an intenral enquiry or not followed correct disciplinary procedures , then , an affected employee may approach the employment tribunal or courts in UK against his unfair or wrongful dismissal. If a person is dismissed unfairly due to his age on the allegation that he is very slow in his work, then, an affected employee may seek protection under s 4 of Equalities Act 2010. Any unfair dismissal due to direct discrimination by an employer will be held illegal under section 13 of the Equalities Act 2010.... o demonstrate incapability of the employee ,i.e., not able to perform the duty as anticipated under section 98(2) (a) of the ERA ; or if there is a misconduct on the part of the employee i.e., like declining to accomplish lawful commands of the employer or availing unauthorised leave without prior permission from the employer under section 98(2) (b) of the ERA; or if the employer is able to demonstrate that dismissal is due to redundancy under section 98(2) (c) of the ERA; or if there is a statutory illegality under section 98(2) (a) of the ERA; or on some other substantial reason under section 98(1) (B) of the ERA5 If a person is dismissed unfairly due to his age on the allegation that he is very slow in his work, then, an affected employee may seek protection under s 4 of Equalities Act 2010. Any unfair dismissal due to direct discrimination by an employer will be held illegal under section 13 of the Equalities Act 2010. Instances of direct discrimination include unfair dismissal o n the basis of the religion (being a Muslim, unfit to work in a bar), gender (being a woman not fit to work for certain types of jobs), and dismissal of an employee due to his old age. The following are the illustrations of unfair dismissal of an employee by an employer. Dismissing an employee as he asked for flexible working time; declining to acknowledge the working time rights by an employee and insisting to avail rest breaks ; dismissing an employee for his involvement in the trade union activity; making an employee to resign by offering the exact notice period ; dimissing an employee for his participation in legal industrial action for more than three months or less ; for providing jury service , requesting time off by an employee ; dismissing an employee for availing adoption leave ,