No protection on TIR work
Page 43

If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
LORRY DRIVERS engaged on TIR work are not protected from unfair dismissal under the 'Employment Protection Act. The anomaly in the Act was revealed this week when three separate appeals against unfair dismissal were thrown out by industrial tribunals.
One case concerned an engineer employed in Saudi Arabia. He was dismissed when he returned on leave. The second involved a salesman who travelled between the UK and Europe regularly on business. The third was a case of a consultant who travelled outside the UK on occasions. He was dismissed on his return from a trip.
According to the judgments the Act as it is worded protects only people who work in Britain. Greville Janner MP said said this week that he hoped to have the Act amended by the introduction of a 10-minute Private Member's Bill.
Unless the amendment goes through. any driver who spends any time out of Britain driving a heavy goods vehicle will be unprotected and could face dismissal without the normal processes of warnings to which his domestic colleagues are entitled.