Detrimental treatment by former employer during recruitment

[register]

I made an application for a new position to my former employer who replying to me that he refuses to consider it because some years ago when I was his employee I made a complaint that I consider as being a qualifying disclosure. I consider that this is an act of detrimental treatment

We have three months to make a claim for detrimental treatment to the Employment Tribunal and I think that this deadline starts at the time of the act of detrimental treatment i.e. recently when I applied for this new position and not when the qualifying disclosure was made some years ago when I was an employee of this employer

However the issue is to know if to qualify to make a claim to the Employment Tribunal the act of detrimental treatment should have taken place when we are employee or it could have been taken place when we were not anymore an employee for example during the recruitment process for a new position

[ULA]

A detriment is unfair action taken by an employer against an employee during employment but does not go as far as dismissing the employee. 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.

However as far as I am aware – but you may need to check this with an employment lawyer – you can only bring an Employment Tribunal claim for detrimental treatment if you are employed or recently left that employment.

[register]

The Employment Rights Act 1996 deals with detrimental treatment. However this Act does not say that the detriment should have occurred during employment so the detriment could be the refusal to give a new position even when the employment has ended

[ULA]

Its covered under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 since according to your post you made a qualifying or protected disclosure.

[register]

It is nearly the same but it does reply also the question of whether or not the detriment can take place after the employment ended during the recruitment for a new position

[ULA]

The case of Onyango v Berkeley t/a Berkeley Solicitors which went to the Employment Appeal Tribunal may help you with your situation. The interpretation of the result of this case is that a detriment may arise following a protected disclosure where for example an employee is not considered for a role at the ex-employer when re-applying to the company.

In which case the time limit I believe would be 3 months less a day from when the detriment occurred. I would suggest you contact ACAS to confirm my interpretation of when the detriment occurred is correct.