Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.

The Department has defined unfair dismissal to occur where no fair reason has been provided to justify the dismissal, resulting in a breach of contract.

All dismissals are handled in line with current legislation and the Department’s policies and procedures. Employees who are new to the Civil Service are subject to a probationary period of between one and six months, depending on the type of appointment. During this time, employees are made aware that they are being assessed for their suitability for the role. Employees may only be terminated before the end of their probation in exceptional cases of poor performance, or for gross misconduct.

Where an employee feels they may have been unfairly dismissed, appropriate internal appeal routes may be instigated. Where an employee is unable to solve a problem internally, they may be able to go to an employment tribunal to claim unfair dismissal, as set out in legislation.

This position will be reviewed when unfair dismissal rights are updated in line with proposals in the Employment Rights Bill. This position will be reviewed when unfair dismissal rights are updated in line with proposals in the Employment Rights Bill.