From 25 June 2013, employees with political opinions or beliefs will have greater protection against workplace dismissal. The new provisions, contained in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, mean that the dismissal of any employee due to his or her political opinions or affiliations could be unfair, regardless of length of service.
The change in law follows the ruling in Redfearn v United Kingdom1, in which the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held that the absence of protection in the UK for employees whose political beliefs or affiliations resulted in their dismissal amounted to a breach of Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights 2. Mr Redfearn was a bus driver and also a British National Party (BNP) councillor. While no customers had complained about him, his employer decided to dismiss him due to his affiliation with the BNP.
Mr Redfearn was unable to pursue a claim against his employer for discrimination as there is no concept of discrimination based on political belief, and he had insufficient length of service to be able to bring a claim for unfair dismissal. He had no redress under English law. The ECtHR ruled that the failure of UK legislation to protect those with short service who were dismissed on account of political affiliation amounted to a breach of the right to freedom of association.
The government has therefore amended section 108 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 so that if the reason (or principal reason, if multiple reasons exist) for an employee's dismissal is his or her political beliefs or affiliations, however unsavoury those views may be, the employer may be liable for an unfair dismissal regardless of how long the employee has been employed.
The key points to note are that the new laws do not classify dismissal for political beliefs as 'discrimination', and nor does not mean that a dismissal because of political affiliations is automatically unfair: the employer will need to demonstrate a 'fair reason' for the dismissal, such as 'some other substantial reason', and ensure a fair process is followed, regardless of the employee's length of service.
Footnotes
1. [2012] ECHR 1878.
2.Article 11 provides for the right to freedom of association, including in this case political affiliation.
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