Dismissal for enforcing a statutory right 





It is automatically unfair to dismiss someone because they have brought tribunal proceedings to enforce a relevant statutory right, such as a claim for holiday pay or the right to minimum statutory notice (section 104, ERA 96). It does not matter whether the employee actually had the statutory right in question, or whether, in reality, it was infringed by the employer (section 104(2), ERA 96), as long as the employee acted in good faith (Mennell v Newell and Wright [1997] IRLR 519). 


In Pearce and Pearce v Dyer [2004] All ER 352, the EAT ruled that dismissing employees for alleging that their employer had made unlawful deductions from their wages was a dismissal for enforcing a statutory right and automatically unfair.