Unfair Dismissal Explained: Who Can Claim and What Compensation Is Available?

In the UK, an employee often needs at least two years of continuous service to gain key employment rights, for example, the right to no be unfairly dismissed. Having said this, there are also circumstances where a dismissal is considered to be ‘automatically unfair’ whether the employee has two years of continuous service or not and claims for unfair dismissal can still be brought forward. Unfair dismissal happens when an employer terminates an employee’s contract without a fair reason or fails to follow a reasonable procedure. Fair reasons under the Employment Rights Act 1996 include capability, conduct, redundancy, illegality, or some other substantial reason, but even with a fair reason, the employer must act reasonably in treating it as sufficient to dismiss. Dismissal can also include summary dismissal, non-renewal of a fixed-term contract, or constructive dismissal, where an employee resigns due to a fundamental breach of contract by the employer.

Automatic Unfair dismissal

Automatic unfair dismissal is cases where you do not need 2 years of continuous work to claim unfair dismissal and under these certain circumstances, a claim can be submitted to an Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal subject to ACAS Early Conciliation. Having done this, it will be up to the employer to prove that the dismissal was for a fair reason and that they followed a fair procedure. Grounds for automatic unfair dismissal are:

•             Being Pregnant or on Maternity Leave

•             Standing Up for Your Legal Rights

•             Leaving a dangerous work situation or refusing to work in one

•             Disclosing any illegal activities, or wrongdoing which is in the public interest

•             Trade Union Membership and Activities

•             Parental Leave

•             Discrimination against a protected characteristic as outlined by the Equality Act 2010

•             Being Part-time or on a Fixed-term Contract

•             Jury Service

•             Forced Retirement

Unfair vs wrongful dismissal

According to UK law, unfair dismissal is about being fired without a fair reason or a fair process, under employment law. This is to be distinguished with the distinct concept of wrongful dismissal, which is a breach of contract, often based around not being given the correct statutory or contractual notice.

Unfair dismissal follows the legal basis that an employee has been dismissed unjustly and against the statutory rights set out in the employment legislation. This would be firing an employee for any other reason than the ones stated in the Employment Rights Act 1996 which outlines fair reasons for an employee to be dismissed. To be eligible for this, an employee generally must have provided at least two years for their employer to claim that they have been unfairly dismissed. However, as stated before, there are exceptions to this which makes employees who have not fulfilled 2 years of continuous work to claim that they have been unfairly dismissed.  Claims for unfair dismissal are dealt with by an Employment Tribunal.

Wrongful dismissal, on the other hand, is based on the legal basis where an employer dismisses and employee whilst also breaching the terms of the employee’s contract in the dismissal process. The most common breach is not giving the correct notice that is either stated ion the contract of the employee or in the law. There is no minimum length that an employee must have been working for and employer to claim that they have been wrongfully dismissed as it can be claimed by any employee whose contract has been breached in the process of dismissal.

Compensation for unfair dismissal

The compensation for unfair dismissal in the UK is either a basic award or a compensatory award. On top of this, in some cases, and employee may also be entitled to additional awards, compensation for difficulty in finding new employment and injury towards feelings awards in cases where an employee is fired on a discriminatory basis.

Basic award is a fixed sum that is calculated based on the employee’s age, length of service and weekly pay up to a statutory limit. The maximum limit on the weekly pay is subject to change every year. On the other hand, compensatory award is meant to compensate the employee for the actual financial losses resulting in the unfair dismissal which could include the loss of earnings, future loss of earnings and the loss of benefits. The monetary value for this compensation varies as it is determined by the Employment Tribunal.

If you require expert legal advice or support with any aspect of your matter, our experienced team of solicitors at Aston Bond are here to help. We are committed to providing clear, practical and tailored legal solutions to help you move forward with confidence. Contact our team today on 01753 486 777 or email info@astonbond.co.uk to discuss how we can assist you.