Wright Hassall has established valuable case law which could help protect thousands of workers.
Wright Hassall, has won the right for a contractor to be protected under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1988 (PIDA) after he was dismissed from Hydro Aluminium in Worcester.
The employee, who has not yet been named, alleges that he was dismissed from the company after making a disclosure about practices at the firm. The company claims that he was dismissed for being rude to staff.
The employee had set up his own service company which had worked through an employment agency for Hydro.
An Employment Tribunal at first ruled that, as he was an employee of the service company, he was not protected under PIDA, but that decision has now been overturned.
Ian Besant, who leads the employment team at Wright Hassall, said the ruling could be significant for workers in many sectors.
“If a person works for a firm through an employment agency they have always been covered by the Act – but this case was different as he was an employee of his own service company, and it was that company which was technically contracted by the agency.
“At first the tribunal ruled that he was outside the protection of the Act which says that workers have the right not to be dismissed if the reason, or principal reason, is that they have made a protected disclosure.
“But an appeal overturned that ruling and he can now go back to the tribunal to have his case against dismissal heard in full.
“Many industries now use self-employed contractors, many of whom work through companies of which they are the sole directors, and this ruling would affect them if they were ever subject of such a dismissal.”
