The laws surrounding the dismissal of employees often cause difficulties for employers and it is crucial that employers know when they can dismiss an employee and what procedures should be followed to avoid claims for unfair dismissal.
There are five potentially fair reasons for dismissing an employee:
1. Conduct – this would include theft, bullying of staff, being intoxicated at work and other reasons relating to the actions of the employee. Misconduct must be serious or repeated on several occasions to be a fair reason for dismissing an employee.
2. Capability – this section would cover circumstances in which an employee is unable to do the job, for example by reason of long-term illness, being unable to keep up with the requirements of the job or being unable to work within a team. Employers should be cautious where dismissing employees for reason of illness and bear in mind the Equality Act 2010.
3. Illegality – This covers situations where it would be illegal for the employer to allow the employee to continue doing their job. An obvious example of this is if a delivery driver loses his driving license.
4. Redundancy – Redundancy is potentially a fair reason for dismissing employees if the employer relocates, needs fewer workers or restructures. There are specific procedures which must be followed in cases of redundancy. For further information see our Legal Overview on redundancy.
5. Some other substantial reason – This section is much wider and allows employers to dismiss employees where there is a very good reason, but which is not covered in any of the four sections above.
The employer’s actions in choosing to dismiss an employee for one of the fair reasons must be a reasonable response to the situation and the correct procedures must be followed.
Why would a dismissal be deemed to be automatically unfair?
There are several reasons why a dismissal would be deemed automatically unfair, the majority of which relate to statutory rights which employees have. The reasons include (but are not limited to):
- Pregnancy
- Membership of a Trade Union
- Health and Safety Issues
- Asserting or attempting to assert a statutory right i.e.; the right to be paid the minimum wage
Our Employment Law experts are here to advise you on employee dismissal and the procedures that should be followed to avoid claims for unfair dismissal. Click here to contact a member of our team.
The above is not intended to be a definitive statement of the law
