Sex discrimination: Extension of unfair dismissal qualifying period was compatible with Article 119
This report relates to 1 case(s)
In R v Secretary of State for Employment, ex parte Seymour-Smith and another (No.2) 17.2.00 House of Lords, the House of Lords holds, by a majority, that the extension of the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from one year to two years in 1985 had a considerably greater adverse impact on women than men in 1991 so as to amount to indirect discrimination for the purposes of (what was then) Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome. The available statistics showed a lesser but persistent and relatively constant disparity over a long period between men and women. However, the Order that extended the qualifying period was objectively justified when it was made and remained so six years later.