In Henderson v AccountsNet Ltd, the employment tribunal awarded £13,081 to a trainee accountant who was found to have been unfairly dismissed after she left the office to collect her ill child from school.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held that the employment tribunal adopted an unduly restrictive approach when deciding that the time spent by two trade union representatives attending union meetings during the day was not "working time". The EAT said that the correct approach is to take into account the aims of the EU Directive relating to working time.
David Malamatenios is partner, Linda Quinn, Colin Makin and Krishna Santra are senior associates, and Dominic Speedie is an associate at Colman Coyle Solicitors. They round up the latest rulings.
The employment tribunal held that a mother's six absences totalling seven days in a 12-month period constituted a "reasonable" amount of time off for dependants under s.57A of the Employment Rights Act 1996.
A dismissal where the reason (or the principal reason) is an employee's jury service will be automatically unfair, regardless of the employee's length of service, as this case demonstrates.
In Royal Bank of Scotland Plc v Harrison EAT/0093/08, the EAT held that a disruption to the employee's childcare arrangements was unexpected. She was, therefore, entitled to take time off for dependants, and had suffered a detriment for a prescribed reason for doing so.