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Unfair Dismissal: Ethnic Groups

Question for Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

UIN HL12977, tabled on 3 February 2021

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of increased vulnerability of BAME individuals to unfair employment dismissals; and what plans they have to strengthen unfair dismissal legislation.

Answered on

17 February 2021

There are laws in place to ensure fair procedure in redundancy and dismissal matters and to protect against discrimination. Employees who consider that their dismissal was unfair can complain to an employment tribunal, generally subject to a qualifying period of two years of continuous service. If an employee has been unlawfully discriminated against, there is no such qualifying period.

The Government collects data on claims to employment tribunals, but this is not disaggregated by the specific characteristics of the claimant.