YOUR LEGAL QUESTIONS ANSWERED

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: september 2012 :: RMTnews 20 What are the requirements for employers to report an accident at work? RIDDOR is the law that requires employers and anyone else with responsibility for health and safety within a workplace, to report and keep records of: • work-related deaths • serious injuries • cases of diagnosed industrial disease • certain 'dangerous occurrences' (near miss accidents). The requirement used to be for employers to report when an employee was “incapacitated” – absent from or unable to do work that is part of their normal duties – for over three days. But the government increased this to over seven days, as of April 6 2012. The number of days does not include the day the accident happened. Employers and others with responsibilities under RIDDOR must still keep a record of all over-three day-injuries – if the employer has to keep an accident book, then this record will be enough. The deadline by which the over-seven-day injury must be reported has also increased to fifteen days from the day of the accident. I’ve heard that there have been changes in the rights of employees to claim unfair dismissal. What will the affect of this be? The government has introduced a number of reforms to employment laws which reduce employees’ employment protection and access to an employment tribunal. The most significant of these changes is the extension of the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from one to two years, from 6 April 2012. This means that although unfair dismissal is a statutory right available to employees who believe they have been dismissed unfairly or unreasonably by their employer, if they started their job on or after 6 April, they must be in continuous employment with their employer for two years before they can pursue a claim. For instance, an employee who started working for their employer on 21 March 2011 and was dismissed on 4 April 2012 can bring a claim of unfair dismissal as she only needs one year’s service to qualify. However, her colleague who started working on 21 April 2012 and was dismissed on 28 April 2013 cannot bring a claim as he doesn’t have the necessary two years’ service. The qualifying period for the right to receive a written statement from an employer of the reasons for dismissal also increased from one to two years. My partner is due to give birth in a couple of months’ time and I would like to take more time off than the statutory two weeks. How do I go about that? The Additional Paternity Leave (APL) Regulations 2010 give fathers (and adoptive partners) the right to up to six months’ paternity leave, which can be taken once the mother (or other adopter) has returned to work. Some of this leave may be paid if taken during the maternity or adoption pay period. This means that an employee may be entitled to APL in respect of a baby born earlier than expected. To qualify for APL, the father or partner of the child’s mother must also be an employee. The eligibility criteria for APL to a large extent mirror those for Ordinary Paternity Leave. You must: • have been continuously employed for at least 26 weeks ending with the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth (EWC) • remain in continuous employment with the same employer until the week before the first week of APL. • be the biological father of the child, or married to, or the A selection of frequently asked legal questions answered by RMT solicitors Thompsons LEGAL YOUR LEGAL QUESTIONS ANSWERED