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EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE
Continuous service and employment rights By Jenny Brunton, Employment Solicitor, Law At Work
Under UK employment legislation, many rights as an employee may not arise until a minimum length of continuous and unbroken service has been completed. It is important for employers and employees to be aware of the qualifying service rules for each right before deciding on a particular course of action. Defining continuous service
Unfair dismissal
Continuous service can be defined as the period of unbroken time that an employee has worked. It is governed by statute: employers and employees cannot opt into or agree an alternative period of continuous service. Absences due to holidays, sickness or other granted forms of leave (such as maternity, paternity etc) do not affect continuous service. The most common example of an event, which does break continuity, is a week, Sunday to Saturday, between contracts. As part of the Taylor Review reforms, government has proposed to extend this period to four weeks to provide greater protection for employees.
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In order to make a claim for unfair dismissal, the standard minimum length of continuous service is two years. Previously, employees needed only one year of continuous service but this was doubled in 2012. Linked to this is the right to request a written statement explaining the reasons for dismissal, which also does not come into effect until two years of continuous service have been completed. Some claims which are counted as automatically unfair dismissal do not require a qualifying continuous length of service – a few of which are discussed further on such as; discrimination linked to dismissal because
