Dismissal due to return of original post-holder



The return of a post-holder temporarily away from the workplace due to say, secondment, maternity or sickness is likely to be a fair reason for dismissal. As usual, it depends on all the circumstances. In particular, it should have been clearly agreed at the outset that the arrangement was only temporary and would end on the return of the post-holder. This kind of dismissal is not a redundancy, because the reason for dismissal is not a reduced need for employees. Instead it is a dismissal for “some other substantial reason” (Greater Glasgow Health Board v Lamont [2012] UKEATS/0019/12/B1).