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Holly Jones (Student)

Wrongful dismissal

What is wrongful dismissal?

This is simply a breach of the contractual terms of your employment contract.

How do I know if I have a claim?

If your employer has dismissed you without paying you your notice period you may have a claim. There may be a notice period stated in your contract of employment, if you have one, or if not, there is a statutory entitlement to a minimum notice. If you have been employed by the company between 1 month and 2 years, this is 1 week. If the employment surpasses 2 years, you are entitled to 1 week for every full year up to a maximum of 12 weeks. This means, if you have worked at the company for 15 years, you will be entitled to 12 weeks’ notice, the same as you would if you had worked at the company for 12 years.

Unfair dismissal

What is unfair dismissal?

Unfair dismissal is where, if an employee has worked for a company for more than 2 years, there was either: no fair reason for the dismissal, the reason was not enough to justify dismissing them, or the employer did not follow a fair procedure.

How do I know if I have a claim?

Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, there are five reasons why a dismissal might be fair, which are-

1. Misconduct– when the employee has done something that is inappropriate or not acceptable
2. Capability– when the employee is not able to do the job or does not have the right qualifications
3. Redundancy – when the job is no longer needed
4. Qualification – when the employee cannot do their job legally, for example a lorry driver who's banned from driving
5. 'Some other substantial reason' – a term used for a wide variety of other situations

Your employer may have had a fair reason to dismiss you, but if they did not follow a fair procedure, you may still have a claim. Your employer would be required to follow either their own written disciplinary procedure or the ACAS code of conduct. The ACAS Code of Conduct is available online but includes things like, holding a thorough investigation, consideration or warnings before dismissal and giving the employee a right of appeal.

Constructive dismissal

What is constructive dismissal?

If you feel you have no choice but to resign because of something your employer has done, you might be able to claim for 'constructive dismissal'.

How do I know if I have a claim?

Here are some examples of behaviour from an employer that might be considered to be justifiable for an employee to resign and claim constructive dismissal:

• Regularly not being paid the agreed amount without a good reason
• Being bullied or discriminated against
• Raising a grievance that the employer refuses to look into
• Making unreasonable changes to working patterns or place of work without agreement

An employer’s breach of your employment contract may be one very serious incident or multiple smaller incidents which together create a serious breach of your employment contract. You should always raise a formal grievance with your employer and resigning should always be considered the last resort as constructive dismissal claims can be difficult to win at an employment tribunal.

Making a claim and ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ Legal Advice Clinic

The most important thing to note regarding dismissal is that there is a very strict time limit for making claims. You must contact ACAS (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) three months minus one day from the date of dismissal, to start what is called a voluntary early conciliation process. You must do this before your case can progress to an employment tribunal however the aim is for the early conciliation to solve the dispute.

It is vital you act within this time limit to make sure your claim will be dealt with.

Here at ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ Legal Advice Clinic, we can help you if you think you may have been dismissed wrongly, unfairly or constructively. For more information and details on what steps you can take if you believe you may have a claim, please contact us at 01248 388411 or email bulac@bangor.ac.uk to make an appointment.