Tax Credits Act 1999

Right of employee not to be unfairly dismissed: Great Britain

3 (1) After section 104A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (the national minimum wage) there shall be inserted—

“104B Tax credit

(1) An employee who is dismissed shall be regarded for the purposes of this Part as unfairly dismissed if the reason (or, if more than one, the principal reason) for the dismissal is that—

(a) any action was taken, or was proposed to be taken, by or on behalf of the employee with a view to enforcing, or otherwise securing the benefit of, a right conferred on the employee by regulations under section 6(2)(a) or (c) of the Tax Credits Act 1999;

(b) a penalty was imposed on the employer, or proceedings for a penalty were brought against him, under section 9 of that Act, as a result of action taken by or on behalf of the employee for the purpose of enforcing, or otherwise securing the benefit of, such a right; or

(c) the employee is entitled, or will or may be entitled, to working families' tax credit or disabled person’s tax credit.

(2) It is immaterial for the purposes of paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) above—

(a) whether or not the employee has the right, or

(b) whether or not the right has been infringed,

but, for that subsection to apply, the claim to the right and, if applicable, the claim that it has been infringed must be made in good faith.”

(2) In section 105 of that Act (redundancy as unfair dismissal) in subsection (1)(c) (which refers to any of subsections (2) to (7A) of that section applying) for “(7A)” there shall be substituted “(7B)” and after subsection (7A) there shall be inserted—

“(7B) This subsection applies if the reason (or, if more than one, the principal reason) for which the employee was selected for dismissal was one of those specified in subsection (1) of section 104B (read with subsection (2) of that section).”

(3) In section 108 of that Act (exclusion of right: qualifying period of employment) in subsection (3) (cases where no qualifying period is required) the word “or” at the end of paragraph (gg) shall be omitted and after that paragraph there shall be inserted—

“(gh) subsection (1) of section 104B (read with subsection (2) of that section) applies, or”.

(4) In section 109 of that Act (exclusion of right: upper age limit) in subsection (2) (cases where upper age limit does not apply) the word “or” at the end of paragraph (gg) shall be omitted and after that paragraph there shall be inserted—

“(gh) subsection (1) of section 104B (read with subsection (2) of that section) applies, or”.