Just because you have less than a year’s service doesn’t mean you can’t bring an unfair dismissals claim
Posted on 25th August 2020 at 22:26
As most people now know, in order to bring a claim under the Unfair Dismissals Act, people must have at least a year’s service. However, that does not mean that people dismissed with less than a year’s service cannot bring claims under other legislation.
People are perfectly entitled to bring claims under the Industrial Relations Acts as a workplace dispute, and in some recent decisions, employees who are dismissed with less than a year’s service were awarded substantial sums under that Act.
The difficulty, of course, is that these awards are not legally binding on the employer, but the embarrassment factor can be very substantial and it might be worthwhile for employees who have been dismissed without due process, and with less than a year’s service, to consider bringing a claim under the Industrial Relations Acts, and certainly if they feel that their reputation has been, in any way, tarnished by the dismissal and they wish to uphold their reputation.
Hugh O’Neill (Partner) will provide you with expert advice in relation to all your Employment Law queries. Please contact Hugh at 01 8732134 or email hugh.oneill@lynchlaw.ie
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