§ Lord Vivianasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many reservists, of the 2,000 called up so far, have appealed against call-up; and what action the Ministry of Defence will take if employers sue the Ministry over the length of time their employee is away. [HL1449]
§ Lord BachAs at 7 February, 4,769 call-out notices had been issued in support of Operation Telic. Of these, 138 were revoked before the individual reported for service. On the same date, there had been 175 applications from reservists seeking either an exemption or deferral of call-out of which 115 had been upheld. In addition, there had been 207 applications from employers, of which 108 had been upheld. A further 68 reservist and 54 employer applications were awaiting adjudication.
Reservists are called out under the authority of the Reserve Forces Act 1996 (RFA 96). The Act recognises that successful call-out depends on a three-way relationship between the Government, the reservists themselves and their employers. RFA 96 therefore provides a number of safeguards for employers, including the right to apply for exemption from, deferral, or revocation of the call-out of their employee. Employers may also claim, up to set amounts, for the additional costs incurred because a member of their staff has been called out. The costs of advertising and retraining the employee on their return are also provided for. Should an employer be dissatisfied with the Ministry of Defence's decision in any given case, they have a right to appeal to an independent Reserve Forces Appeals Tribunal.
These safeguards should remove the need for any employer to resort to legal action. However, the department would handle any such action in the normal way.