The ECJ found failures in UK employment law in November 2012 following the dismissal of a bus driver for political reasons. The bus driver was dismissed as a result of his decision to stand as a BNP councillor. As he lacked the one year’s continuous service requirement he was unable to bring unfair dismissal proceedings and the Court found the UK needed to take remedial action to address the law’s shortcomings:

"Consequently, the Court considers that it was incumbent on the respondent State to take reasonable and appropriate measures to protect employees, including those with less than one year’s service, from dismissal on grounds of political opinion or affiliation, either through the creation of a further exception to the one-year qualifying period or through a free-standing claim for unlawful discrimination on grounds of political opinion or affiliation. As the United Kingdom legislation is deficient in this respect, the Court concludes that the facts of the present case give rise to a violation of Article 11 of the Convention."

Jo Swinson, Minister of State for Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs, Parliamentary Under Secretary at BIS has issued a parliamentary statement on the required reforms: "Having considered the judgment, the Government has decided not to appeal this decision. To bring our legislation into line with the ruling, we have tabled an amendment to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, currently before the House of Lords. This amendment exempts claimants who allege that their dismissal was on the grounds of political opinion or affiliation from the 2 year qualifying period. Following the necessary Parliamentary stages, this additional protection would come into effect two months after the Bill receives Royal Assent and would apply to dismissals after that date." For the full statement: http://bit.ly/12IKhUr It is worth noting that in Northern Ireland employees are already protected from dismissal on grounds of political opinion under the Fair Employment and Treatment Order 1998.