Dismissal

Section 238A of TULRCA gives employees protection from dismissal during the first 12 weeks of any lawful, balloted, official industrial action. During these 12 weeks the protection is absolute, provided that no unlawful act apart from the employee’s breach of contract has occurred. Any dismissal, regardless of how long the employee has worked, or their age, is automatically unfair, unless a tribunal decides that the dismissal was not to do with the industrial action. Information about these rights must be included on the industrial action ballot paper.

The 12-week period can be extended if employees are still taking action but, in the view of the tribunal, the employer has not taken reasonable steps to try to resolve the dispute. This could happen, for example, where there was an unreasonable refusal of an offer to reopen negotiations, or of mediation or conciliation. For further information see Chapter 10: Dismissal while on strike.