EMPLOYMENT LAW

Dismissal at Work

Dismissal of an employee is of course a significant matter both for the employee and employer. Proper processes must be followed to protect everyone. So, that will normally include one or more of a disciplinary process and procedure being used, an employee may in turn raise a grievance, warning letters etc may be issued, and ultimately an employee dismissed from their contract of employment. Here we cover all of your employment law queries around dismissal in the workplace. That includes how to dismiss an employee? What is the difference between a resignation and constructive dismissal. And, we look at how you can bring a claim for unfair dismissal at work? If there is an employment law query about dismissal at work that we have not covered, do get in touch with one of our specialist employment law solicitors. You can email us at employment@qlaw.co.uk or call us on 03300 020 365!

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Dismissal at Work FAQs

Assuming you have the right to claim unfair dismissal (usually you need 2 years’ service with your employer to gain unfair dismissal rights), before you can submit an Employment Tribunal claim, you usually have to go through Acas Early Conciliation to see if it’s possible to reach a settlement deal with your employer. If Acas Early Conciliation is unsuccessful at brokering a deal, Acas issue a Certificate that enables you to start an Employment Tribunal claim. You’ll need to fill in the required form, called an ET1, and provide all the information required on the form, as well as setting out full details of your claim. Employment law is complicated and if you make a mistake or don’t meet the Employment Tribunal deadlines, you can lose your right to bring a claim. As such, we would recommend that you take specialist employment law advice as soon as possible after your dismissal (if not beforehand) if you’re considering claiming unfair dismissal.

Assuming you have the right to claim unfair dismissal (usually you need 2 years’ service with your employer to gain unfair dismissal rights), before you can submit an Employment Tribunal claim, you usually have to go through Acas Early Conciliation to see if it’s possible to reach a settlement deal with your employer. If Acas Early Conciliation is unsuccessful at brokering a deal, Acas issue a Certificate that enables you to start an Employment Tribunal claim. You’ll need to fill in the required form, called an ET1, and provide all the information required on the form, as well as setting out full details of your claim.

A constructive dismissal is where you have resigned in response to something your employer has done to you, and that resignation is viewed by the law as a dismissal because it was caused by the employer’s own conduct or breach. The resignation can be with or without notice – though it’s risky to resign without notice, so take advice before resigning. The employer’s act or failure must have led to your resignation, and be so serious as to amount to a fundamental breach of contract – that means something so serious that it in essence destroys, or shows the employer doesn’t intend to be bound by, the relationship of trust and confidence that should exist between employer and employee. By contrast, “ordinary” unfair dismissal is where you are dismissed by the employer for any reason.

A constructive dismissal is where you resign in response to your employer’s bad treatment of you. That bad treatment must be so serious as to amount to a fundamental breach of contract – that means something so serious that it in essence destroys, or shows the employer doesn’t intend to be bound by, the relationship of trust and confidence that should exist between employer and employee. So, a constructive dismissal is where the law makes a resignation into a dismissal in law because the only, or main, reason you resigned was because of your employer’s own conduct. On the other hand, a resignation is where you resign because you want to leave – not because the employer has necessarily done anything wrong, or else where there isn’t enough evidence to prove that your employer committed a serious breach of contract. In a constructive dismissal claim, it’s up to you to prove to the Employment Tribunal that your employer breached your contract, and as such that you didn’t resign just by choice.

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