Unfair or Wrongful Dismissal Advice for Employees
If you’ve been dismissed by your employer and feel that the dismissal was unfair, you may be able to claim for Unfair Dismissal or Wrongful Dismissal. It’s vital that you get specialist, professional legal advice to determine whether or not this has been the case. We can help you by providing free initial advice based on your circumstances.
Our specialist Employment Law team offers advice in different languages on a wide range of legal matters, including unfair and wrongful dismissal. They will discuss your case with you and can advise on the best course of action. Call them on 0208 1111 911 or contact them through the website.
What exactly are Wrongful and Unfair Dismissal?
Unfortunately, dismissals are commonplace in business and in most cases are carried out fairly. An employer can dismiss employees through disciplinary or capability procedures, or by making their role redundant, either as a one-off or as part of a wider programme of redundancies. In all instances, the employer has to be able to prove that they followed a fair process to arrive at the decision. Otherwise, they could leave themselves open to a claim of unfair or wrongful dismissal.
Wrongful Dismissal means that your employers didn’t follow their own procedures correctly before making a dismissal. For example they might not follow their own disciplinary procedures, which could amount to a breach of your contract.
Unfair Dismissal means that rather than your contract being breached, your employer breached a statutory right you have under the Employment Rights Act 1996. To claim for unfair dismissal, you must have worked for your employer for just under two years (the exact amount is two years minus one week). It is fair to dismiss you based on a number of different grounds and we can advise whether or not we think the reasons given for your dismissal are fair.
In a small number of instances, the dismissal might be found to be ‘automatically unfair’
What is Automatically Unfair Dismissal?
In some instances, the dismissal may breach your basic statutory rights. This is deemed to be automatically unfair regardless of the procedures that were followed. The requirement for two years’ service (minus one week) does not apply to automatically unfair dismissals, so any employee can claim if they have grounds to do so.
Automatically unfair dismissal can arise if you can prove that you were dismissed on the basis of:
- Discrimination under the Equality Act 2010
- Flexible working arrangements or requests
- Rights under the Working Time Regulations
- Seeking to assert a statutory right such as National Minimum Wage or safe working conditions
- Taking compassionate leave
- Whistleblowing
If you feel that you’ve suffered such discrimination as part of your dismissal, contact us for free initial advice on your circumstances.
How do I get advice on Wrongful or Unfair Dismissal?
Call us on 0208 1111 911 or contact us through the website and we’ll discuss your circumstances with you. The initial call is free and if we think you have a valid case and we can help you, we’ll advise you of our fees before you decide to instruct us.