Unfair Dismissal in The United Kingdom

Unfair Dismissal In The United Kingdom

Unfair dismissal is the term used in UK labour law to describe an employer's action when terminating an employee's employment contrary to the requirements of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It is automatically unfair for an employer to dismiss an employee, regardless of length of service, for a reason related to discrimination protected by the Equality Act 2010, becoming pregnant, or having previously asserted certain specified employment rights. Otherwise, an employee must have worked for a year to have the right against unfair dismissal (2 years if the employment started on or after 6 April 2012). This means an employer only terminates an employee's job lawfully if the employer follows a fair procedure, acts reasonably and has a fair reason. Fair reasons for dismissal are,

• A reason related to the employee's conduct
• A reason related to the employee's capability or qualifications for the job
• Because the employee's job was redundant
• Because a statutory duty or restriction prohibited the employment being continued
• Some other substantial reason of a kind which justifies the dismissal.

The reason for dismissal will rarely be the basis for a successful unfair dismissal claim, as a Tribunal is not allowed to substitute its view of what is reasonable for that of the employer. The Employment Tribunal will judge the reasonableness of the employer's decision to dismiss on the standard of a "band of reasonable responses" assessing whether the employer's decision was one which falls outside the range of reasonable responses of reasonable employers.