Guided tourxvthe tribunal can award compensation. The maximumaward of compensation is, as for unfair dismissal, cur-
rently £63,000.The compensation will generally be paid by the employer
or employment agency concerned but in cases where atrade union is joined as a party and the tribunal decides
that the unlawful refusal resulted from pressure appliedby the union where the employee refused to join the
union it may order the union to pay some or all of thecompensation. The tribunal can also recommend that
the prospective employer or employment agency shouldtake action to remedy the adverse effect of their unlaw-
ful action on the complainant.In Harrisonv Kent County Council(1995) it was
held that an employer’s refusal to employ an applicantbecause of his previous activities in another post could
amount to an unlawful refusal of employment on groundsof union membership.
Time off work without payUnder the ERA 1996 employees have a right to time off
work in certain circumstances. Sometimes they are alsoentitled to pay, as in the case of trade union officials and
of redundant employees who are looking for work orwanting to arrange training for another job. These and
other cases have already been looked at as part of the lawrelating to pay. However, there are other cases in which
employees are entitled to time off but the employer isnot under a duty to pay wages or salary for it. These are
as follows:(^1) ber of an independent trade union Trade union activities. An employee who is a mem-which the employer
recognises activities. The employee is not entitled to pay unless heis entitled to reasonable time off for trade union
is a trade union official and the time off is taken underprovisions previously considered. The Advisory, Con-
ciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), a statutorybody set up by the Employment Protection Act 1975 to
promote, for example, the improvement of industrialrelations, has published a Code of Practice 3 which gives
guidance on the time off which an employer should allow.Paid time offfor union officialsfor union duties has
already been considered.
(^2) employees who hold certain public positions and officesPublic duties. Employers also have a duty to allow
reasonable time off to carry out the duties which go alongwith them. Details are given in the ERA 1996 which covers
such offices as magistrate, member of a local authority,
member of an employment tribunal, and member ofcertain health and education authorities. There has more
recently been an extension made by statutory instrumentto cover members of boards of visitors and visiting com-
mittees for prisons, remand centres and young offenderinstitutions.
1 Complaints in regard to failure to give time off underand 2 above may be taken to an employment tribunal.
In general the complaint must be made within threemonths of the date when the failure to give time off
occurred. An employment tribunal may make an orderdeclaring the rights of the employee so that these can be
observed by the employer and may also award moneycompensation to be paid by the employer where there is
injury to the employee, e.g. hurt feelings.
(^3) particular time off at p 476 Family emergency. We have already considered this.
Testimonials and referencesThere is no law which requires an employer to give a
reference or testimonial to an employee or to answerquestions or enquiries which a prospective employer may
ask him. This was decided in exception occurs where a reference is required by a regu-Carrollv Bird(1800). An
latory body, such as the Financial Services Authority aspart of its duty to ensure that financial services are handled
only by authorised and competent persons.However, if an employer does give a reference or
testimonial, either orally or in writing, which is false, hecommits a criminal offence under the Servants’ Charac-
ters Act 1792. The employer may also be liable in civillaw to pay damages to certain persons as follows:
(^1) of a false statement To a subsequent employerknown to the former employer to be, who suffers loss because
untrue (without reasonable grounds for believing the statementFosterv Charles(1830)), or made negligently
to be true, because it was decided in Transhield Ltd(1987) that an employer who gives anotherLawtonv BOC
employer a reference concerning an employee owes aduty of care in negligence to the recipient employer.
It should be noted that if words of disclaimer such as‘This reference is given in good faith. No responsibility
is accepted for any errors or omissions which it containsor for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on it’
are used they will have to satisfy the test of ‘reasonable-ness’ under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. A
court might think such a clause reasonable in regard toa reference given to an employee expressing a view upon
Part 4Business resources
486
Chapter cross-references
Clear in-text cross-references come in
handy to help you identify where to
discover more information on key topics.
Visit the Business Law, 9th edition
mylawchamber site at http://www.mylawchamber.
co.uk/riches to access:
● Companion website support: Use the
selected answers to self-test questions in
the book to test yourself on each topic
throughout the course. The site includes
updates to major changes in the law to
make sure you are ahead of the game.
● Online Study Guide: Use this resource to
revise key topics in Contract Law by
working through a series of interactive
problem solving exercises.
● Case Navigator: provides access and
guidance to key cases in the subject to
improve your case reading and analysis
skills.
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