Fundamental Principles of the UK Law - Coursework Example

Name: xxxxxxxxxxx Course: xxxxxxxxxxx Institution: xxxxxxxxxxx Title: Fundamental principles of the UK law Date: xxxxxxxxxxx @ 2010 Fundamental principles of the UK law Introduction As the accountable fire and rescue service manager, our team of rescuers was called to put out fire in a factory building. Subsequent to our arrival we were faced with a severe fire that threatened to spread in the neighbouring buildings. In the course of putting out the fire the manager of the factory pointed out that he was concerned that the sprinkler system that was in operation would damage his stock due to the water flowing from the system. During that time his stock was not affected by the fire. Putting into account the concern of the manager of the factory, the responsible team manager, gave out the instruction to the fire rescue team to turn off the sprinkler system. Consequently, the building was destroyed by the fire. The neighbors in the surrounding areas were concerned that the fire might have spread to the surrounding buildings. Nonetheless, the staffs were too busy to check. After exiting the scene of the fire, the fire and rescue team was informed that the fire had indeed spread and several other buildings were reported to be on fire. Following this scenario the responsible manager was dismissed on the claims of negligence. Key principles in the UK law that revolve around aspects of employment law and laws in the fire and rescue services epitomize a scenario that promotes effectiveness in the execution of services and the appropriate treatment of employees. There exist several employment statues in the United Kingdom constitution such as the Employment Act of 2002 and Employment Act of 1996 that give directives on various aspects in regard to the employment of persons. In the fire and rescue services there are a number of laws that exist to ensure that there exist a safe and sustainable community whereby damages, as a result of fire are averted or minimized. Moreover, these laws wee put into place to ensure that the services delivered are efficient and successful within the community1. This paper seeks to present an incisive and comprehensive outlook on the fundamental principles of the law in regard to employment laws and laws in the fire and rescue services. It will depict the application of these fundamental principles in the UK law in the work environment. Moreover, this paper will seek to discuss the managerial and legal issues arising from the above scenario. Literature review Peter Chandler in his book, “An A-Z of employment law: a complete reference source for managers” illustrates key aspects of dismissal on the grounds of incompetence in reference the fundamentals principles of employment law in the United Kingdom. Chandler illustrates that in case an employee is dismissed on grounds of incompetence the question on whether this dismissal is fair or unfair largely depends on the circumstances that revolve around the undertakings, the size or the administrative resource of the alleged work environment. Moreover, the fairness of employee dismissal depends on whether the employer has taken a reasonable action in considering incompetence as a satisfactory reason for dismissing the employee. Nevertheless, the fairness or unfairness of the dismissal of an employee is determined by the substantial merits and equity case in reference to section 98 of the Employment right Act of 1996. 2 \ Chandler further illustrates that incompetence is a legitimate grounds for dismissal. For instance in the court case of Taylor versus Alidair Limited [1978] IRLR 82 the judge preceding over the court stated whenever an employee is dismisses on the grounds of incompetence , it satisfactory that the employer is believes this fact on reasonable grounds. However, it is not a requirement for the employer to verify that his or her employee is incompetent. On the other hand, in E C Cook versus Thomas Linnell & Sons Limited [1977] IRLR 132, the Employment Appeal Tribunal further stated that it was not sufficient to establish incompetence as the reason for dismissal incase an accountable employer establish that after a reasonable time and there is sound evidence to back this conclusion.3 Over the course of time courts and tribunals have applied several yardsticks to determine the issue of whether an employer has acted fairly or unfairly when claiming incompetence as a satisfactory reason for dismissing their employees. For instance, the length of service that an employee has put in an organization can be used to determine whether dismissal on the grounds of incompetence is reasonable or fair. In a case whereby an employee has given satisfactory service for several years, the court is likely to be suspicious of the contention of the employer in dismissing the employee on the grounds of incompetence. The courts might require evidence of the employee’s deterioration in their work performance thus giving a justifiable reason for dismissing the employee. 4 Nevertheless, if the employee is a relative newcomer in a particular department the court might as well seek evidence on an attempt to train the employee in order for them to improve the standards of work performance. Alternatively, reasonable dismissal on the grounds of incompetence will depend on whether, the employer has submitted to the employee warnings of shortcomings or that they had undergone training or advice prior to their dismissal. According to the employment law, employees dismissed on the grounds of incompetence do not qualify to air a complaint for unfair dismissal unless their retiring period and have been employed continuously employed for a period of one year.5 The fire and rescue service in United Kingdom operates under guidelines as stipulated in several Acts. The fire and rescue service Act 2004(c, 21) stipulates the function of the fire and rescue authorities in regard to fire safety and fire fighting. According to the provisions of this Act authorities in the fire and rescue services are charged with the responsibility of enhancing fire safety in the community. Provisions under the subsection one illustrates that authorities must give provisions if information in respect to the steps that are to be undertaken so as to prevent injuries, death and losses caused by fire. Moreover, this Act makes provisions for authorities to give advice concerning how fire fighters can avert fires and restrict the spread of fires to other properties or buildings. In reference to fire fighting the fire and rescue service Act 2004(c, 21) accentuates that authorities in the fire and rescue services must give provision with the aim of extinguishing fire in the affected areas and protecting lives and property in the event of fire incidences. Under subsection (1) authorities need to particularly secure the personnel and necessary equipments in order to curb fire incidences. Furthermore, the fire and rescue service Act 2004(c, 21) depicts that authorities in the fire and rescue service should secure personnel training thus ensuring that the personnel involved in rescue missions can tackle the different kinds of fire incidences.6Moreover, authorities need to make arrangements for getting the needed information and summoning personnel to the required tasks. In addition, this Act provides that necessary arrangements should be made to ensure that effective steps are carried out prevent and restrict the loss of lives and the damage of properties that come as a result of fire incidences. Managerial Issues Evidently, the above scenario presents several managerial issues surrounding the management of the fire and rescue services. Managerial issues embodied in the above scenario include problem solving, communication and motivation among many other issues. It is apparent in the fire and rescue services problem solving is an imperative tool since the duty of fire fighting is intricate in nature. For example, in the above scenario the fire fighters were faced with an intricate challenge that was immediately pronounced into a dilemma. This scenario presented a dilemma on whether the fire fighter should refrain from using the sprinkler system in order to save the stocks of the factory thus increasing the risk of spread of fire to other buildings or whether the fire fighters should have ignored the rule of the manager and used the sprinkler system to eradicate the fire. The training of the fire fighting personnel would have definitely provided an elaborate problem solving mechanism of tackling the problem at hand. Problem solving is a fundamental practice in the management of fire and rescue services. It is evident from the above scenario that the major problem aroused from the use of the sprinkler system. A fire sprinkler system is basically an active protection measure against fire that is made up of a water supply mechanism with pressure that distributes water through its piping system. The use of sprinkler systems particularly in the settings of a factory has proved to be catastrophic over the course of time in terms of destroying property. Therefore, as a managerial measure the relevant authorities in the management of the fore and rescue services should be able to delegate the use sprinkler systems as mechanisms of fighting fire. 7 Communication is an imperative tool in the running of fire and rescue services. Apparently, communication in the above scenario is a managerial issue. From the above scenario we see that the appropriate channels of communicating the directions of fire fighting were unprecedented. The manager of the fire fighting squad followed the directions of the manager of the factory rather than following the stipulated framework of fire fighting.8 By stopping the use of the sprinkler system according to the direction of the factory’s management, the manager of the fire fighting squad put the interest of a single part before the interest of the general public. Subsequent to this decision, the fire spread to other buildings thus causing more damages as compared to the damages that could have been caused to the factory’s stock if the sprinkler system had been used. This scenario verifies that this fire and rescue service has no appropriate channels of communicating the direction of fire fighting during fire incidences. Performance motivation is key in the fire and rescue services since the task of fire fighting is one that is intricate in nature and it requires optimum attention and practice. Performance motivation as a managerial tool can be actualized through effective training. Training and development is essentially a quality assurance strategy used in the fire and rescue services. Training provides a bridge whereby effective output measures can be actualized. The initiation of comprehensive training analysis helps in the identification training areas that require refresher or additional training. Consequently, the standards of work in the fire and rescue departments are raised. The existing output measures are resulted through adequate specialist training that involves fresher training for fire fighters.9 Legal issues The above scenario also epitomizes several legal issues. Key legal issues emerging from the above scenario include the application of laws in the fire and rescue services and the legality of employee dismissal in this particular circumstance. In reference to the fire and rescue service Act 2004(c, 21), personnel in this vocation are charged with the responsibility of enhancing fire safety in the community.10 Provisions in this Act illustrate that authorities must give provisions if information in respect to the steps that are to be undertaken so as to prevent injuries, death and losses caused by fire. Furthermore, this Act makes provisions for authorities to give advice concerning how fire fighters can avert fires and restrict the spread of fires to other properties or buildings. Contrary to this provision, it is evident that the fire fighters in this scenario acted contrary to this provision. Their focus was mainly directed towards saving the factory’s stock rather than preventing the spread of the fire to other buildings. Consequently, the fire from the factory spread to other buildings as a result of negligence on the part of fire fighter. Legal action could be summoned against the management of the fire and rescue services given the fact that they had a chance to put out the fire and stop its spreading to other buildings but instead they relegated in order to save the factory’s stock. In case of loss of lives and copious property, the general public could have legal grounds against the management of the fire and rescue services on the claims of negligence. On the other hand, this scenario presents legal dilemma since if the fire fighters had declined the order of the management of the factory and continued to use the sprinkler system the managed would have held claims of property sabotage against the fire and rescue services. In regard to the dismissal of the manager following the claims of negligence, several legal issues emerge. Basing our argument on section 98 of the Employment right Act of 1996, there is need for reasonable grounds of dismissing a person from employment. Given the fact that the dismissal of the manager was on the grounds of incompetence there is need to establish range of incompetence exercised by the manager in the above scenario. 11 In order to ascertain the legality of the employee dismissal certain factors should be put in to account. For instance, it would be necessary to establish if the manager acted incompetently by ordering the fire fighter to refrain the use of the sprinkler system in order to save the factory’s stock. Alternatively, there is need to establish whether prior to the fire incident the management had offered training or given advice to the fire fighters regarding the steps that are to be taken in case such a scenario occurs. The dismissal of the manager can be considered reasonable or fair if proved that he had been negligent on the training directives. The period of effective service in the particular fire and rescue department will also determine if this dismissal is legal. For instance, if the manager has over time given effective service in regard to his job description the court could question the grounds of dismissal since human is to err. However, if the authorities had earlier on given the manger warning summons in regard to his work performance the dismissal can be considered fair. 12 Conclusion The above scenario epitomizes several managerial and legal issues in the fire and rescue services. Fundamental principles in the UK law that revolve around aspects of employment law and laws in the fire and rescue services epitomize a scenario that promotes effectiveness in the execution of services and the appropriate treatment of employees. Managerial issues embodied in the above scenario include problem solving, communication and motivation among many other issues. The fire and rescue service Act 2004(c, 21) has been used to access the managerial issues in this scenario. On the other hand, legal issues embodied in this scenario revolve around the application of laws in the fire and rescue services and the legality of employee dismissal in this particular circumstance. Section 98 of the Employment right Act of 1996 clearly represents key legal issues emerging from the above scenario. References Adair, J, 2009, Leadership and Motivation, Kogan Page, New York. Armstrong, M & Stephens T, 2005, A Handbook to Management and Leadership: A Guide to Managing Results, Kogan Page, New York. Britain, G, 2007, Fire and rescue service manual, Volume 2, The Stationery Office, Cabinet Bradley, E, K, 1997, Constitutional and Administrative Law. London, p 271. Chandler, P, 2003, An A-Z of employment law: a complete reference source for managers, Kogan Page Publishers, UK. Mullins, J, 2007, Management and Organizational Behavior, 8th Ed, Prentice Hall, New York. Office, 2008, The 39th Civil Service year book, Stationery Office, UK. Pettinger, R, 2006, Introduction to Management, Palgrave Macmillan, UK. Sargeant, M & Lewis, D, 2008, Employment Law, 4th Ed, Prentice Hall, New York. The fire and rescue service Act 2004(c, 21). Retrieved on February 20, 2010 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2004/ukpga_20040021_en_3#pt2-pb1-l1g7 Read More