In out in out
Ministers are in one minute, out the next and then in again. Could they have any redress to employment law?
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In out in out in out . . .
It’s been a frenetic time in government recently. With three prime ministers in a matter of weeks, the cabinet has been changing like a team sheet at a premier football club, although many might say that the ministerial team is far from premier standard!
It does raise an interesting question from an employment law perspective though. If it were not government, but a business changing staff so readily, could there be any consequences?
It seems the PM can sack and replace a minister at his/her whim. If that happened in business one would expect performance or disciplinary meetings, verbal and written warnings followed by final warnings and eventually dismissal - and that’s only if it were reasonable to do so, otherwise the dismissal would be unfair.
But we must remember that unfair dismissal rights are only available to employees and MPs are not employees; they are elected representatives of their constituents and they become MPs once the Electoral Officer has confirmed they have won the election. We’ve all seen that moment on the television when the declaration is made from the Returning Officer, usually in a sports hall somewhere. In fact, I’ve had the dubious honour of standing in the line watching my opponent being pronounced as the winning candidate in my constituency. That was my brief foray into politics and now I stick with what I know!
So MPs can’t head off to an employment tribunal (and rightly so).
But what about ministers?
Ministers are MPs with additional roles. Whilst the pay for their normal parliamentary duties comes from the IPSA (Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority), ministerial pay doesn’t. They are Crown Servants and as such they do appear to have protection under section 191 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.
But, by virtue of the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975, the prime minister, with the monarchs blessing, can strip a minister of his/her responsibilities, so it probably wouldn’t be unfair to dismiss them from their post. So, although they appear to have the right not to be unfairly dismissed the PM has a legal right to remove them from office
In any event, very few ministers, if any, have been in post for over two years, so even if they have a case of unfair dismissal they wouldn’t have the qualifying service to make a claim in the employment tribunal.
I don’t suppose they are too upset when they are ousted, it’s all part of the game for many of them. It’s not what you know, but who you know, and more importantly who you support in any election contest. If you back the wrong horse, odds are that you will not be elevated to the dizzy heights of the Cabinet. Whereas if you support the winner you’re likely to get that promotion even if you had to resign through wrongdoing not more than a week earlier - no names mentioned here!
And what about MPs’ staff?
They are directly employed by the constituency MP and work under a normal contract of employment. They have rights just as any other worker and also have full access to the employment tribunal.
Clocks go back on Sunday morning - should night workers receive extra pay?
If staff are working overnight on Sunday they will have to do an extra hour’s work. Whether or not they are entitled to be paid the additional hour will depend on the wording of their employment contract.
Salaried staff
If staff are salaried it is doubtful they will receive anything extra. Generally they are expected to work the hours necessary for the needs of the business and providing the additional hours they work in a pay period does not bring their average below the National Minimum Wage their employer is in the clear.
Hourly paid staff
Once again check the contract, but on the whole additional hours should be paid at the normal rate unless overtime pay is enhanced. When an 8 hour shift turns into a 9 hour shift, the additional hour should be paid.
Obviously in the Spring night workers will work one less hour and the situation will be reversed. There is nothing to stop an employer agreeing with staff to pay as normal as both will even out, but if a worker leaves in the intervening period credit must be given for the additional hour in the final pay.
Nurse told colleague she should bleach her skin to 'come back white and so patients will be nice to her'
A London NHS Trust has been found liable for race-related harassment after a nurse told another nurse to bleach their skin so that "patients will be nicer to you", an employment tribunal has found. When agency nurse at Central North West London Trust (CNWL) Ms A Kweyama, complained about the harassment, her boss suggested she might be mentally unwell which was "humiliating and offensive", Employment Judge George ruled this week.
Ms Kweyama was a nurse at Heathrow Immigration Removal Centre, at the time run by CNWL, which houses immigration detainees from a wide range of countries pending their removal from the UK - it has a capacity of 965 residents, making it the largest immigration removal centre in Europe. My London
Nursery chef, 30, who was sacked after baking Valentine's Day shortbread for all his colleagues except two women he didn't like and claimed female bosses 'colluded' against him WINS sex discrimination case
A nursery chef who was sacked after intentionally leaving out two colleagues who he didn't like when he baked Valentine's Day biscuits for fellow staff has won his case for unfair dismissal. Mike Harding, 30, was accused of snubbing the two women 'deliberately' when he made the heart-shaped shortbread treats for everyone except them.
He was also accused of burning a cake that children had made for one of his bosses on purpose and then throwing it away because he didn't get on with her, an employment tribunal heard. Mail Online
Tribunal orders HBOS to pay £22,000 in unfair dismissal case
An employment tribunal has ruled that HBOS, part of Lloyds Banking Group, must pay more than £22,000 in compensation to a mortgage adviser it found had been unfairly dismissed. The ruling consists of a basic award of £9,250, and a compensatory award of £13,054.72. Employee Benefits
Interserve fined £4.4 million for data law breach
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined Interserve Group Ltd £4,400,000 for failing to keep the personal information of its staff secure, and in so doing breaching data protection law.
This lack of appropriate security measures enabled hackers to access the personal data of up to 113,000 employees through the use of a phishing email which took place in May 2020. Contact details, national insurance numbers and bank account details, as well as data about ethnic origin, religion, disabilities and sexual orientation, were among the data compromised. Facilitate