ECHR rules on dismissal on grounds of political persuasion

A recent case in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will interest many of Employee Management Ltd’s (http://www.employeemanagement.co.uk) HR support clients, given a ruling that UK law is deficient in giving workers protection from dismissal on the grounds of their political affiliation.

It centres on a claimant, Mr Redfearn, who was employed as a bus driver by Serco Ltd, with less than one year’s service. His passengers were largely Asian. After Mr Redfearn was elected as a local councillor for the British National Party (BNP), Serco summarily dismissed him, fearing that his being affiliated with the BNP would cause anxiety among passengers and ultimately result in the Council dropping its contract with the company.

Mr Redfearn unsuccessfully attempted to use the Race Relations Act 1976 to bring a race discrimination claim against Serco, with the Court of Appeal ruling that there was no link between the dismissal and his race. It stated that the employer’s actions had been motivated by his membership of a political party, which afforded him no protection in anti-discrimination law.

This led to Mr Redfearn’s application to the ECHR for a declaration of UK law’s incompatibility with Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which covers the right to freedom of assembly and association.

In a development that will interest many of the clients of our human resource consultants, it was held by the ECHR that Mr Redfearn’s Article 11 rights had been violated and that there was inadequate protection afforded to him under UK law. As a consequence, it was incumbent on the UK to take measures that appropriately protected employees against dismissal on grounds of political persuasion, including those – like Mr Redfearn – with less than one year’s service.

Serco was particularly criticised by the Court for its decision to summarily dismiss Mr Redfearn without considering his transferral to a non-customer facing role.

There have been suggestions that this decision may be appealed by the UK – and indeed, a failure to overturn it would put pressure on the Government to enact protection for workers dismissed on the grounds of their political affiliation. It is important to note that it is not being suggested by this judgement that an employee’s dismissal on account of their political views is automatically unfair, but that workers in this situation ought to be afforded judicial means by which they can challenge the fairness of the decision.

It has thus far been established under the Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2004 (now within the Equality Act 2010) provisions that although belief in a political philosophy or doctrine might achieve qualification for protection as a ‘philosophical belief’, this is not the case for supporting a particular political party.

Our professionals at Employee Management Ltd (http://www.employeemanagement.co.uk) can guide you through the aspects of employment law that are relevant to cases like these, even representing you at employment tribunals against a wide range of unfair dismissal claims. Contact us now about the most complete and competitive employment law services.

Editor’s Note: Employee Management Ltd (http://www.employeemanagement.co.uk) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.