Employment Law Advocates

In most cases, an employee needs to have worked for the employer for one continuous year to be able to bring a claim of unfair dismissal.

However, there are certain exceptions to this rule. For example, if a pregnant woman is unfairly dismissed for a reason related to her pregnancy, then it does not matter if she has only worked for the employer for one week, she can still bring her unfair dismissal claim.

English law allows employers 5 fair reasons for dismissing employees:
Redundancy; Misconduct of the employee; the capability of the employee; or “some other substantial reason” (including, for example, a business re-organisation).

If the reason for dismissal can be proven to be one of these 5 fair reasons, then the employer will also have to show that dismissal, in the context of that individual case, was a response that a reasonable employer could reasonably have made.

For example, an employer dismissing for gross misconduct will have to show a Tribunal that the real reason for the dismissal was in fact the misconduct itself, that the misconduct was investigated reasonably, that the employer did honestly believe that this was a case of gross misconduct, and that the employer had reasonable grounds (i.e., good reasons) to hold that honest belief. Finally, the Tribunal will then consider whether, taking all that into account, the dismissal was a fair and necessary response in all the circumstances. If the employer fails to convince the Tribunal on any one of those steps, then the dismissal will be found to be an unfair dismissal.

In addition, even if the employer had good reason to dismiss, the employer, no matter how small the business, must follow a fair procedure as laid down by the law. Often, unfair dismissals happen because employers are not aware that they need to follow such a procedure, or because they do not know how to do it. Employment Law Advocates can offer detailed advice.

The compensation that Tribunals can order from employers to employees that have been unfairly dismissed broadly reflects the financial loss that the particular employee has suffered as a result of the unfair dismissal. However, the employee is expected to make reasonable efforts to find a new job in good time. If the employee has not done enough, then the compensation may be reduced. The compensation may also be reduced for other reasons, including cases where the employee’s own actions are partly to blame for the dismissal. For example, where an employee is unfairly dismissed for gross misconduct, but what the employee did was still bad (but perhaps forgivable), such that the Tribunal consider that the employer and the employee are each 50% responsible for the unfair dismissal, the compensation may be reduced by half.