Our Employment lawyers are specialists in resolving work place disputes and pursuing claims for compensation resulting from an unfair dismissal.

If you have been continuously employed for two years, you will automatically have statutory protection from unfair dismissal. If you have been employed for less than two years you may still be able to bring a claim but only if you can prove you were dismissed for what is known as an automatically unfair reason such as unlawful discrimination or whistle blowing. For further information on this, please see our discrimination at work page.

The dismissal of a qualifying employee will be treated as unfair unless: –

• The employer can show that the reason for the dismissal was a potentially fair reason.  There are five potentially fair reasons for dismissal: conduct, capability, redundancy, breach of a statutory restriction, and “some other substantial reason”; and
• The tribunal finds that, in all the circumstances including the size of the employer and its administrative resources, the employer acted reasonably in treating that reason as a sufficient reason for dismissal. This has been interpreted by the courts and tribunals as meaning that the dismissal must be both “procedurally” and “substantively” fair.

The Employment Tribunal will also consider whether the employer acted fairly in the procedure that they followed including whether they gave fair warnings prior to dismissal and whether they followed the steps set out in the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures (which applies to dismissals for misconduct or poor performance).

However, in the event that the Employment Tribunal finds that the dismissal was unfair because the employer did not follow a fair procedure, the Employment Tribunal can and will reduce compensation to a level which it finds to be just and equitable IF the employer can establish that the failure to follow a fair procedure made no difference on the outcome.

Wrongful dismissal is very different to unfair dismissal, and occurs where an employee is dismissed in breach of contract. The most obvious example of this is when an employee is dismissed without being given their contractual or statutory notice. Depending on the nature of the wrongful dismissal, you may be able to bring a claim for notice pay and/or an injunction and/or other compensation.

Our Employment Advice Services

Our solicitors are experts in handling unfair dismissal claims. We can help you by: –

1. Assisting you to navigate your employer’s internal appeal procedures and the tactical decisions that need to be made.
2. Advising you on whether your dismissal is likely to be fair or unfair and what level of compensation you might expect to recover from a claim in the Employment Tribunal.
3. Assisting and representing you in a claim to the Employment Tribunal for re-instatement, re-engagement and/or compensation.

We are able to offer very competitive rates and fixed fee packages for our work. All our initial advice is provided by qualified solicitors and offered for free, so please call us on 0208 591 3366 or request a call back through the website.