Unfair Dismissal Claims

Every employee has the right not to be unfairly dismissed by their employer.

To win an unfair dismissal claim, the employee must have been employed for at least one year (or more in certain circumstances) and must prove they have been dismissed. It is then up to the employer to show that the dismissal was for one of five permitted reasons:

1. Redundancy
   Redundancy arises either when you plan to close down your business or part of it, at the location where employees work; or where your business no longer needs as many workers to carry particular work. For a Redundancy dismissal to be fair,  proper procedure must be followed. Failure to do so is likely to result in the employee to being entitled to claim Unfair Dismissal as well as an uplift on the compensation award from between 10-50%.
2. Illegality
   The employee may have committed or been accused of a criminal offence at work or out of working hours. Sometimes this means it may be reasonable to dismiss that worker  eg if the employee needs a driving licence for work and they lose their licence, it may be necessary to sack them.
3. Capability
   If an employee is not up to the job for which they have been employed, does not have the right qualifications for that job or if they are ill and absent from work for long periods then dismissal under capability may be reasonable.
   
   Don't forget however that you must ensure to carry out a full and proper procedure as failure to do so is likely to result in the employee winning an unfair dismissal claim against you and an increase in the compensation award.
4. Conduct
   Persistently breaking rules, theft or fraud are the most common conduct reasons for dismissal.
   
   As with any dismissal, employers must ensure that dismissal is reasonable in the circumstances and that proper procedure has been followed - as failure to do so is likely to result in the employee winning an unfair dismissalclaim and an increase in their compensation.
5. Some other substantial reason
   If an employer can show that the dismissal wasfor a ‘substantial reason of a kind such as to justify the dismissal of an employee holding the position which that employee held’ the dismissal is regarded as potentially fair even if it is not one of the other four reasons above.

Even if an employer can show that the dismissal was for one of the five fair reasons, they must still satisfy an Employment Tribunal that a full and proper procedure had been carried out.

Our specialist employment solicitors provide advice on how to dismiss someone fairly as well as dealing with Unfair Dismissal claims.

Employers must follow correct procedures in sacking workers as statistics show about 97% of employers lose unfair dismissal claims by not following procedure correctly.

Employment tribunals can award costs against either party but rarely do- it is better to assume both parties will bear their own costs in any unfair dismissal claim.

Contact our Unfair Dismissal Solicitors