Unfair Dismissal and other Employment Rights

The law sets certain minimum standards which employers are obliged to meet when dismissing an employee if they are to avoid, or successfully defend, a claim of unfair dismissal. For example, if the employer believes that an employee’s work is not up to standard, the employer should talk to the employee to explain what needs to be improved and generally formal warnings should be given before the ultimate sanction of dismissal is considered, otherwise an Employment Tribunal might decide that there was an unfair dismissal. If the employer suspects that an employee is guilty of some misconduct then the employer must investigate fairly and give the employee an opportunity to give his explanation. Again if this is not done then the dismissal is likely to be an unfair dismissal. And before making an employee redundant, the employer should consult with them about whether there are other jobs they could possibly do in the organisation. Lack of proper consultation can make a dismissal for redundancy an unfair dismissal. In short the employer has to act reasonably if a successful claim for unfair dismissal is to be avoided. As well as the general requirement to act reasonably when deciding to dismiss (which the Employment Tribunal has to assess, looking at all the circumstances) there are certain reasons for dismissal which the law regards as automatically unfair. For example dismissing a woman because she is pregnant is automatically an unfair dismissal. There are also certain minimum procedural requirements which an employer must follow when dismissing (including inviting the employee to a meeting and providing a right of appeal) which if not followed will make a dismissal automatically unfair. There is normally a 3 month time limit to make a complaint about unfair dismissal, and if there are other matters complained of, such as discrimination, or deductions from wages, the time limit to complain about those matters may start to run from an earlier date so it is important to seek legal advice as soon as possible. This page was lasted updated in April 2007. Disclaimer