Forums › Ask ACCA Tutor Forums › Ask the Tutor ACCA LW Exams › Impact College Ltd (Unfair Dismissal)
- This topic has 4 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 10 months ago by MikeLittle.
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- January 26, 2024 at 6:41 am #699096
Greetings Tutor, I hope you are doing Well. Can you please help me in the following question-
Scenario – “Impact College Ltd provides private tuition. The college is managed by Jack, who also has responsibility for personnel matters. Fred, Gale, Hannah and Igor are lecturers currently
employed by Impact College Ltd.Fred has been employed as the staff trade union representative for the past three years
and has had several confrontations with Jack as to the working conditions of the college’s
employees. Gale has been off work twice in the past four years on maternity leave, and to
Jack’s stated annoyance, is pregnant once again. Hannah was hired a year ago but has
annoyed Jack by frequently bringing health and safety issues to his attention. Igor has
been employed on a two-year fixed-term contract which is about to end and will not be
renewed because Impact College no longer requires an employee with his skills.It has transpired that Fred, Gale, and Hannah are among ten members of staff selected
for dismissal by the college and they have evidence that Jack has pursued a personal
vendetta against them”.The Question that has been asked in the Exam Kit of BPP is can Fred, Gale, Hannah and Igor make a claim for Unfair Dismissal.
But my Question specifically relates to Hannah, as to whether she can make a claim for unfair Dismissal? As per BPP “Hannah cannot claim unfair dismissal because she has not been employed
for two years”But my point is
As per the Study Text of Kaplan, in case a dismal is automatically unfair there is no requirement for an employee to satisfy the 2 year Continuous Employment Criteria.And according to Open Tution Ai, “it is automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for raising or bringing health and safety issues to their employer’s attention. This falls under the category of protected disclosures, also known as whistle-blowing, which is safeguarded by legislation such as the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) in the UK. Employers have a legal obligation to address health and safety concerns raised by their employees and should not retaliate against them for doing so. Dismissing an employee for raising valid health and safety concerns would be considered automatically unfair”.
Furthermore, even BPP’s study text has mentioned that it is automatically unfair to dismiss an employee who tries to enforce his/her statutory right such Paid Holiday Leave and National Minimum Hourly Wage.
Based upon the above explanation can we say that despite of the fact that Hannah was hired a year ago, she can make a valid claim to have been unfairly dismissed as this is an automatically unfair dismissal.
January 26, 2024 at 8:46 pm #699148‘Hannah was hired a year ago but has annoyed Jack by frequently bringing health and safety issues to his attention.’
Can this be construed as ‘asserting her legal and statutory rights’?
If so, then I’m with you in that it would be unfair to be dismissed on this ground.
However, if Hannah is simply a repeated whinger, does that fall into ‘asserting her legal and statutory rights’?
If not, then the two year rule will apply and an unfair dismissal claim will not be available to Hannah.
It’s a very fine distinction and requires an informed ‘guess’ to decide whether Hannah’s frequent issue-bringing is an assertion or a whinge.
OK?
January 27, 2024 at 7:03 pm #699205Thank you Biggles but, as I seem to remember asking you in the past, this is a forum called ‘Ask ACCA Tutor’
Please, do try to keep your input to the general open forum
As it happens, I agree with your assessment of the problem and ( reluctantly) must agree with you.
Biggles comments about Hannah being a whinger I concur with
Is that OK for you Vikas?
January 29, 2024 at 9:38 am #699252Sorry
January 29, 2024 at 9:40 am #699253OK, but please try to avoid in the future
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