Unfair Dismissal

Losing your job can be very a very difficult experience and you may feel you have been treated unfairly.

Once you have been employed continuously for two years by your employer, you have the right not to be unfairly dismissed. That means that termination of your employment by your employer must be for a potentially fair reason, being because of:

• Your conduct
• Your performance
• Redundancy
• If it becomes illegal for your employer to continue to employ you or
• “Some other substantial reason”- which may be for reasons such as restructuring of the business

Your employer must act in a way which is procedurally correct for any termination to actually be fair.  In particular:

• Before any termination due to your conduct, there must be a fair investigation of the issues and appropriate action by your employer which will involve a warning or series of warnings before any termination except in the most serious cases
• Before any termination due to poor performance, there must be a proper explanation of what is required and reasonably set targets for your performance; a series of reviews and opportunity for you to improve your performance before termination except in the most exceptional cases
• In the event of redundancy or some other substantial reason there must be a warning to you of the potential situation; consultation with you and any other potentially affected employees; a fair selection for termination of employment; and consideration of any alternatives to termination

If you are affected by any of these issues, please contact us and we will assist you.