There are many special rights which the law gives you. Many of these have come from Europe. If you try to stand up for these rights or ask questions that the employer does not like and you get sacked for doing so it would be an unfair dismissal.
It would count as an unfair dismissal even if you had not got 12 months' service. You could go to tribunal even if you were sacked in your first week. Many employers do not know this.
Your rights include...
- Anything to do with Health & Safety Regulations such as temperature, heights, dangerous equipment, chemicals, vapours and radiation.
- The Working Time Directive, which puts a 48 hour limit on how many hours you can work in a week on average. Your employer is not allowed to make you do more than this. Even if you have opted out of your rights, you can reverse that and opt back in to your rights whenever you like.
- Maternity rights, for maternity pay or time off for antenatal care, or when the baby is born or for wanting your job back afterwards.
- Being a Trade Unionist or wanting to be in a Trade Union or even talking about it. Many employers are fiercely anti-union and would sack you for even asking about this.
- Parental Leave. This is complicated, but fathers as well as mothers are allowed to take time off to deal with domestic crises such as children being ill. We cannot include all the details here so call us for more information.
- Minimum Wage.
Please note that even if you are mistaken about your rights and wrongly ask for something you are not entitled to, if it leads to you being dismissed it would be an unfair dismissal. The law is there to protect you and make it possible for you to ask questions without being afraid. The employer cannot dismiss you for speaking out even if you have got your facts wrong.
Always call us or email us first and we'll help you decide what to do.
