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What is a detriment?
A detriment is unfair action taken by an employer against an employee during employment but does not go as far as dismissing the employee. It would include treatment by your employer that is demeaning or detrimental.
Examples of a detriment
Examples can include:
- denial of training opportunities
- being given more onerous or mundane work
- demeaning or humiliating comments being made. If the comments are made based on age, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, religion, race, transgender or disability, this may also be discrimination
- insignificant issues about conduct being unduly highlighted by the employer
- the way in which grievances and disciplinary issues are handled so the employer is not taking them seriously or dealing them with a proper manner
- withholding certain employee terms such as a reference.
Workers are protected from suffering a detriment because they have done something where they are protected by law, for example, they should not be picked on by their employer because they have tried to assert their legal right to holiday pay, or they have blown the whistle on an issue of public concern at work.
If the detriment is that you have lost your job you should claim unfair dismissal, provided you are an employee and you have worked for long enough. If you cannot claim unfair dismissal because, for example, you are not an employee but an agency worker, you may be able to make a claim for detriment instead.
Time limits
If a claimant fails to prove a detriment which is within time, can this unproven detriment extend time by reason of being a continuing act for earlier detriments which are proven but out of time?
No, held the Employment Appeal Tribunal in a recent case, Royal Mail Group Ltd v Jhuti.
To do otherwise would render the time limit meaningless, since any claimant could rely on any act to extend time without the need to prove the same.
At Frettens, all of our solicitors offer a free initial meeting or chat on the phone to answer your questions. If this article raises issues for you or your business, please call us on 01202 499255 and the Employment team will be happy to discuss it with you.
