Employment Act 1980

12 Right to return

After section 56 of the 1978 Act there shall be inserted—

“56A Exclusion of s.56 in certain cases.

(1) Section 56 shall not apply in relation to an employee if—

(a) immediately before her absence began the number of employees employed by her employer, added to the number employed by any associated employer of his, did not exceed five, and

(b) it is not reasonably practicable for the employer (who may be the same employer or a successor of his) to permit her to return to work in accordance with section 45(1), or for him or an associated employer to offer her employment under a contract of employment satisfying the conditions specified in subsection (3).

(2) Section 56 shall not apply in relation to an employee if—

(a) it is not reasonably practicable for a reason other than redundancy for the employer (who may be the same employer or a successor of his) to permit her to return to work in accordance with section 45(1), and

(b) he or an associated employer offers her employment under a contract of employment satisfying the conditions specified in subsection (3), and

(c) she accepts or unreasonably refuses that offer.

(3) The conditions referred to in subsections (1) and (2) are—

(a) that the work to be done under the contract is of a kind which is both suitable in relation to the employee and appropriate for her to do in the circumstances; and

(b) that the provisions of the contract as to the capacity and place in which she is to be employed and as to the other terms and conditions of her employment are not substantially less favourable to her than if she had returned to work in accordance with section 45(1).

(4) Where on a complaint of unfair dismissal any question arises as to whether the operation of section 56 is excluded by subsection (1) or (2), it shall be for the employer to show that the provisions of that subsection were satisfied in relation to the complainant.”