Dismissal

New and updated

• Date:

  1 December 1994

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  No hours bar on unfair dismissal claims

  In Clifford v Devon County Council the EAT has ruled that public sector employees are eligible to bring an unfair dismissal complaint, by using EC law, even though they work less than eight hours per week.

• Date:

  1 November 1994

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Reasonableness: Employer need not actively consider consultation

  In Polkey v AE Dayton Services Ltd, the House of Lords ruled that a redundancy dismissal will usually be unfair if the employee was not warned or consulted prior to dismissal. But the Lords said there may be exceptions to this rule where the employer, at the time of dismissal, could reasonably take the view that consultation or warnings would be useless.

• Date:

  1 October 1994

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Dismissal: Imposition of new shift patterns was constructive dismissal

  In Interconnection Systems Ltd v Gibson, an employee was unfairly constructively dismissed when her employer imposed new shift patterns, and refused to accept that the domestic difficulties created by this change were a ground for considering transferring her to alternative work.

• Date:

  1 October 1994

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Sickness rules: Dismissal for evening training on sick day was unfair

  In Inco Alloys Ltd v Kelly the EAT upholds an industrial tribunal's decision that the dismissal of an employee, because he twice attended evening Territorial Army training sessions having been off work the same day because of sickness or injury, was unfair.

• Date:

  1 October 1994

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Reasonableness: Dismissal for loss of licence was fair

  An employee was fairly dismissed when he lost his driving licence, holds the EAT in John Liddington Ltd v Blackett, given that his job involved substantial travelling and the employer had concluded, after careful consideration of alternative arrangements, that the job could not be done properly without a car.

• Date:

  1 September 1994

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Sick man defence barred

  In Webb v EMO Air Cargo (UK) Ltd (14 July 1994) EOR57A, the European Court of Justice rules that it is contrary to the Equal Treatment Directive to dismiss a woman employed for an unlimited term who, shortly after her recruitment is found to be pregnant, notwithstanding that she was recruited initially to replace another employee during the latter's maternity leave.

• Date:

  1 August 1994

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Misconduct dismissals: Unauthorised "favour" was a breach of trust

  An industrial tribunal's decision that a painter was unfairly dismissed for using company materials to paint guttering at a house not included in the works contract was flawed, holds the Court of Session in McGuire v Brawley Brothers Ltd.

• Date:

  1 July 1994

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Dismissal: Threat of termination was constructive dismissal

  An employee who resigned when her employer threatened to terminate her contract with due notice if she refused to agree to a change in her shift pattern was constructively dismissed, rules the EAT in Greenaway Harrison Ltd v Wiles.

• Date:

  1 July 1994

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Reorganisation: Tribunal takes wrong approach on business reorganisation

  An industrial tribunal's decision that an employee could reasonably refuse a proposed detrimental variation in contractual terms because it was not based on sound business reasons vital for the company's survival was wrong, holds the EAT in Catamaran Cruisers Ltd v Williams and others.

• Date:

  1 February 1994

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Hellyer Brothers Ltd v Atkinson and Dickinson

  In Hellyer Brothers Ltd v Atkinson and Dickinson [1994] IRLR 88 CA, the Court of Appeal held that, because of the peculiarities of the crew agreement system, the employees could not claim redundancy payments because of gaps in their continuous employment.