Lawson-West - your legal partner for life

Unfair Dismissal

Unfair dismissal is the most common type of claim brought in Employment Tribunals. If you have been dismissed and your employer has not followed the statutory dismissal procedure by giving the reasons for dismissal to you in writing, failed to allow you to state your case and failed to allow you to appeal, you may have an automatically unfair dismissal claim. If you have been dismissed for disciplinary reasons and your employer failed to follow disciplinary procedures, investigate the disciplinary matter properly and failed to consider alternatives to dismissal, again you may have an unfair dismissal claim.

Qualifications for bringing a claim

To proceed with an unfair dismissal claim:

• the Claimant must be an employee (rather than an independent contractor or self employed),
• and must have been working continuously for at least one year (although this requirement is subject to exceptions, for example, if the dismissal was pregnancy related).

What makes a dismissal unfair?

• Under the Employment Rights Act, employers can seek to argue that an employee has been dismissed for a "potentially fair reason" – i.e. for a specified reason such as misconduct or ill-health.
• Whether the dismissal is, in fact, fair or unfair will turn on whether an Employment Tribunal considers that the employer acted reasonably in all the circumstances.
• Therefore, if an employer fails to allow an employee to be accompanied to disciplinary hearings, falls short of the requirement to consider alternatives to an employee's dismissal such as demotion, deployment or other disciplinary action, or neglects to undertake an adequate investigation, an employee's dismissal may be regarded as unfair.
• Most importantly, employers are required to adopt a 'fair procedure' in dismissing an employee and must follow the statutory dismissal procedure. Under this procedure, employers must write to an employee detailing the reasons why they are considering dismissal, invite the employee to a meeting and allow the employee an opportunity to state their case, in addition to allowing a right of appeal. An employer's failure to adhere to this basic procedure will render a dismissal automatically unfair and an employee may be entitled to an 'uplift' on any compensation they receive of between 10 - 50%.

Remedies

• Those employees who are successful in their claim for unfair dismissal can request reinstatement (returning to their old job); re-engagement (returning to work for the same employer, but in a different role); and/or compensation.
• In order to achieve the maximum possible compensation, employees must be able to demonstrate to an Employment Tribunal that they have attempted to 'mitigate their loss' by evidencing applications for alternative employment. It is therefore essential that all relevant documentation is retained.

If you think you have been unfairly dismissed, phone Lara Scott on 0116 212 1000 or complete the form below. Lawson-West offer a free initial consultation so it won't cost you a penny to find out whether you have a claim for unfair dismissal.

Personal Details