GIBRALTAR Law and Practice Contributed by: Emma Lejeune, Stuart Dalmedo, Adrian Pilcher, Nicholas Isola, Danielle Victor, James Castle, Louise Anne Turnock and Danielle Curtis, ISOLAS LLP
cally unfair reason (eg, making protected disclosures) where the qualifying period does not apply. Employ - ees may be dismissed “at will” before they have attained 52 weeks’ continuous service, provided that the employer complies with minimum notice provi - sions under statute or the contract, and provided that the employee is not dismissed for an automatically unfair reason. Depending on the reason(s) underlying the dismissal, employers may also need to consider the Employment (Bullying at Work) Act 2014 and/or the Equal Opportunities Act 2006. After 52 weeks’ continuous employment, the employ - er must prove that there was a permitted reason for the dismissal of the employee. Permitted reasons for a dismissal are: • reasons relating to capability of the employee; • reasons relating to the conduct of the employee; • that the employee was redundant; • that the employee’s continuous employment would result in the contravention of the law; or • some other substantial reason of a kind to justify dismissal. If an employee is found to be unfairly dismissed, they are entitled to compensation calculated by a statu - tory formula and which includes compensation for the unfair dismissal including a basic award (GBP2,200 or such higher amount as calculated by a statutory formula) and a compensatory award calculated by reference to the lesser of two years’ salary of the employee at the time of the dismissal or twice the weekly minimum wage for two years, representing a cap of GBP77,064 based on the current minimum wage. There are deductions that can be made to these awards and the maximum upper limit for the compen - satory award does not apply where an employee is found to be unfairly dismissed in certain circumstanc - es, for example, dismissals in health and safety cases. On termination of employment, a Notice of Termina - tion must be filed with the Department of Employment. Under the Employment Act 1932, collective redun - dancy consultation requirements apply where an employer is proposing to dismiss as redundant five or more employees at one establishment within a
period of 90 days or less. In such circumstances, the employer must consult with the affected employees’ representatives at the earliest opportunity and at least 60 days before the first dismissal takes place. Employee representatives include representatives of a trade union or representatives elected by the affected employee satisfying the requirements of the Employ - ment Act 1932. The consultation must be undertaken by the employer with a view to reaching agreement with the employee representatives and must include a consultation about avoiding dismissals, reducing the number of employees to be dismissed and mitigating the consequences of the dismissals. Further, and as part of the consultation process, the employer shall disclose to the employee representatives and to the director the following in writing: • the reasons for the proposed redundancies; • the number and descriptions of affected employ - ees; • the total number of employees of any such description employed by the employer at the establishment in question; • the proposed method for the selection of affected employees; • the proposed method of carrying out the dismiss - als; and • the proposed method of calculating the amount of any redundancy payments to be made. A failure to consult in a collective redundancy situa - tion can give rise to a declaration by the Employment Tribunal, and the Employment Tribunal may also make a protective award of compensation. Employees dismissed for redundancy reasons are entitled to redundancy pay calculated by a statutory formula that is dependent on the employee’s years of service, subject to a maximum of one year’s pay and provided that the employee has completed one year’s service. 4.5 Employee Representations There are no general mandatory rights under Gibraltar law except regarding the following. • Various consultation requirements are imposed on employers in respect of collective redundancy situ -
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