Ms Patricia King:

I have spoken to Deputy Cullinane many times about this. The Unfair Dismissals Act terms kick in after 12 months of employment. Someone who is only in employment for six months is taking a big risk approaching an employer with a claim because, notwithstanding the very good employers who are out there, there are employers who are quite capable of mishandling or misusing a situation whereby somebody puts forward a claim and within a relatively short period of time finds himself or herself unemployed.

That person has little or no comeback by virtue of not being covered by the Unfair Dismissals Act. The argument that the period should be 12 months plus could be considered. There is certainly an argument to the effect that a period of 18 months would provide certainty regarding unfair dismissals and address a number of sectors in which there are peaks and valleys in terms of how busy they are. Employers could argue that the pattern of hours was only due to the fact that it was coming up to Christmas, Easter, the summer holidays or the like. A period of 18 months is probably more likely to give a more balanced view of an employee's claim of a pattern, as it would take in all eventualities. This is open to debate. Deputy David Cullinane stated he was open to considering it.