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First Tuesday Q&A

The claimant was dismissed by reason of gross misconduct and in particular.

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We employ seasonal ‘summer’ workers. If we employ them for successive summers are they covered by unfair dismissal legislation/expectation of summer work under custom and practice?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 07/08/2012 In order to have unfair dismissal rights, the seasonal 'summer' worker must qualify as an employee AND also be able to prove one year of continuous employment. As regards the expectation of summer work under custom and practice, employers should be aware of the GB Employment Appeal Tribunal case of...
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Unfair Dismissal Contracts of Employment A-Typical Working Recruitment and Selection

Could you please set out any special conditions or issues in relation to seasonal workers’ terms and conditions of employment?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 01/05/2012 A seasonal or fixed-term employee will have the same legal entitlements as permanent employees, but their continuity of service will usually be broken at the end of each season/contract period. This means that the seasonal employee may not have a long enough continuous service for certain employmen...
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Contracts of Employment Working Time and Leave A-Typical Working

If employer allows full-time staff to reduce their working week to, for example, 30 hours per week, how is holiday entitlement calculated, especially if the employee works Monday to Thursday? And what about public holiday entitlement?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 03/01/2012 Part-time employees are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ statutory leave in the same way as any other worker and although the Working Time Regulations do not define what is meant by a week’s leave, the established view is that this involves the worker being away from work for a week. For example, if a worker...
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Working Time and Leave A-Typical Working

In relation to long term absence where you have had to employ a temporary worker to cover absence, can you request a minimum notice period before the absent employee returns to work?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 06/12/2011 While there is no legal right to request notice in these situations, you could ask the employee to give you a certain amount of notice of their intention to return. It is best practice, however, that this is discussed as part of your management of the long term absence situation. It is useful and a...
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Sickness and Absence A-Typical Working

With seasonal working arrangements or other intermittent employment is there a recognised period of time between employment periods that would constitute a break in service. Are there mitigating factors to take into account on this?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 03/08/2010 This question is a good example of a specific follow-on from last month’s more general question on continuous employment. To recap, employment is presumed to be continuous from the contract start date and will generally end on termination. However certain circumstances may bring about a break in co...
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Contracts of Employment A-Typical Working

Are 'zero hour' contracts lawful & what is the law on casual contracts?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 06/07/2010 The answer to your first question is, in short, yes. The answer to the second could take a little bit longer! Firstly, zero hours contracts are a type of casual contract and although not legally defined, they have become the day-to-day name for a casual contract under which an employer does not gua...
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Contracts of Employment A-Typical Working

What are the dangers of terminating an agency worker’s contract over performance issues? Is it discrimination?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 02/03/2010 The answer to this question will vary depending on a number of factors, including the agreement you have in place with the agency. It can be relatively straightforward to terminate an agency worker’s engagement for poor performance where it is clear that the agency worker is an employee of the agen...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Disciplinary and Grievance Issues Discrimination and Equality A-Typical Working