Leonard Kasler & Company
Unfair Dismissal
(20 Things for an Employer to Know)
As at December 2000,
1 If an employee has been with you for more than one year, he or she has the right not to be unfairly dismissed.
2. The maximum award is generally £50,000, but is unlimited in certain typoes of cases
3. It used to be that part time workers were unprotected, but they are now protected by the legislation.
4. Dismissal by reason of redundancy is not unfair, but dismissal for reasons connected with discrimination, trade union activities and pregnancy are automatically unfair.
5. Dismissal on the occasion of business takeover is complicated. It will be automatically unfair if a link can be shown between the takeover and the dismissal. However, the employer can try to prove that the dismissal was for an economic, technical or organisational reason necessitating changes to the workforce.
6. A dismissed employee can easily obtain from the Industrial Tribunal the necessary forms to get the application issued, but must issue the application within 3 months of dismissal.
7. There is no fee to issue an application and, generally, the Industrial Tribunal will not award costs against the unsuccessful party.
8. There is therefore very little cost to the dismissed employee in bringing a claim, unless he or she uses lawyers. Lawyers may be prepared to act for the dismissed employee on a conditional fee basis.
9. The dismissed employee may have time on his hands and will be able to pursue his application personally.
10. An employer will devote much management time to dealing with the claim and might wish to take legal advice as to the merits.
11. At Leonard Kasler & Company, we always explore with the employer client the possibility of making a "nuisance payment" to the dismissed employee to get rid of the application, rather than to pay legal fees.
12. Apart from the money, one of the main considerations is the message sent out to the rest of the workforce.
13. The Tribunal disregards any "reasons" for dismissal, discovered after the actual date of dismissal.
14. The Tribunal considers what an employer, acting reasonably in the light of the information then known, would have done with regard to dismissal.
15. If the employer has a disciplinary procedure, it is important that it is followed
16. If there is no disciplinary procedure, an employer should ensure that a fair investigation is carried out prior to dismissal and that this includes giving the employee an opportunity to show why he should not be dismissed.
17. If the dismissal involves sexual or racial discrimination or trade union activities, there is no limit on the compensation that can be awarded.
18. Otherwise, at present, there are limits for awards made in unfair dismissal claims. However, there are proposals to remove them.
19. A dismissal will be unfair unless it was carried out because of: the employees conduct, capabilities or qualifications; redundancy; contravention of statute or some other substantial reason.
20. The reason for dismissal must either be serious enough to warrant such a step immediately, or must be as a result of a series of misdemeanours which resulted in various lesser disciplinary steps being taken with the employee having been warned that dismissal may result, if they continued.
Michael Breeze
Leoanrd Kasler & Company