Employment Law Update

Extension of time due to ill health

Most employers will be all too aware that a former employee has three month’s from the date of his or her dismissal to raise a claim for unfair dismissal in the Employment Tribunal.  In most instances, a sigh of relief can be enjoyed if the three month deadline passes without the claim coming in because Employment Tribunals have been known to rigorously enforce this time limit.

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Forcing devout Christians to work on a Sunday

At this time of year, cases with a religious element always attract attention but the Court of Appeal’s decision in Mba v London Borough of Merton is one that we have covered before.

Ms Mba is a devout practising Christian who believes that Sunday is a day for worship and not work. She was employed by London Borough of Merton (the Council) as a residential care officer. At the relevant time, the home was open 24 hours a days, 7 days a week.

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Acas has launched a consultation on a possible change to the Discipline and Grievance Code of Practice relating to the legal right workers have to be accompanied at a disciplinary or grievance hearing.

At present, the Code suggests that an Employer can refuse to allow a particular person to accompany an employee during a relevant hearing if the employee’s request is unreasonable. However, the decision of the EAT the case of Toal and anor V GB Oils earlier this year suggested that the Code did not accurately reflect the law on the statutory right to be accompanied and that the Code was suggesting that employers had powers to restrict representation in ways which were not granted by statue.

Acas is therefore inviting comments from employers and other interested parties as to what 'making a reasonable request'  to be accompanied might or might not involve.

The deadline for comments is midnight on Tuesday 7 January 2014 and details of how to submit views are available on the Acas website.