Regulation 16 Unfair dismissal
An employee who is dismissed is entitled under section 99 of the 1996 Act to be regarded for the purposes of Part 10 of that Act as unfairly dismissed if the reason or principal reason for the dismissal is—
of a kind specified in paragraph (3), or
that the employee is redundant and the employer did not comply with regulation 14 (redundancy).
An employee who is dismissed is also to be regarded for the purposes of Part 10 of the 1996 Act as unfairly dismissed if—
the reason or principal reason for the dismissal is that the employee was redundant,
it is shown that the circumstances constituting the redundancy applied equally to one or more employees in the same undertaking who held positions similar to that held by the employee and who have not been dismissed by the employer, and
it is shown that the reason or principal reason for which the employee was selected for dismissal was of a kind specified in paragraph (3).
The reasons referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) are reasons connected with any of the following facts—
that the employee took, sought to take, or made use of the benefits of bereaved partner’s paternity leave,
that the employer believed that the employee was likely to take bereaved partner’s paternity leave, or
that the employee undertook, considered undertaking or refused to undertake work in accordance with regulation 11 (work during a period of bereaved partner’s paternity leave).
For the purposes of paragraph (3)(a), an employee makes use of the benefits of bereaved partner’s paternity leave if, during a period of bereaved partner’s paternity leave, the employee benefits from any of the terms and conditions of employment preserved by regulation 10 (application of terms and conditions during a period of bereaved partner’s paternity leave) during that period.
Paragraph (1) does not apply in relation to an employee if—
it is not practicable for a reason other than redundancy for the employer (who may be the same employer or a successor of that employer) to permit the employee to return to a job which is both suitable for the employee and appropriate for the employee to do in the circumstances,
an associated employer offers the employee a job of that kind, and
the employee accepts or unreasonably refuses that offer.
Where, on a complaint of unfair dismissal, any question arises as to whether the operation of paragraph (1) is excluded by the provisions of paragraph (5), it is for the employer to show that the provisions in question were satisfied in relation to the complainant.