Presenting A Claim For Unfair Dismissal

In most cases, you must have been an employee for one year or more before you are eligible to present a claim for unfair dismissal. There are exceptions to this rule, for which no requisite length of service is required.

If you believe that your dismissal is unfair,  we always recommend that legal advice is sought.

Potentially Fair Reasons for Dismissal

There are five potentially fair reasons for a fair dismissal. These are:

1. The employee’s conduct
2. The employee’s capability or qualifications
3. Redundancy
4. Retirement
5. Some other Substantial Reason.

In order to successfully claim unfair dismissal, the Employment Tribunal must find that your dismissal is not for one of these potentially fair reasons.  If the Employment Tribunal find that the dismissal is for one of the fair reasons, you could still win your case if fair procedures have not been followed and your employer has not been reasonable.

Remedies for Unfair Dismissal

If you are unfairly dismissed, the Employment Tribunal can order that you are re-instated (which means that you are treated by your employer as though you were never dismissed), re-engaged (which means that you are re-employed by your employer in a suitable role), or that you be awarded compensation. The current limit on an award for compensation is £65,300.

Before you present your claim

Before presenting a claim at the Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal you should always try and resolve it with your employer. Unreasonable failure to do this may lead to your compensation being decreased by 25%.

Presenting a claim for unfair dismissal

You should use form “ET1” to present your claim for unfair dismissal. The ET1 needs to set out the grounds on which you claiming unfair dismissal.

The Technicalities of form ET1:

1. It is imperative that your response is filed within the time limit. In most cases this will be within 3 months of the date of your dismissal.  Sometime the time limits are different and you should always check time limits to ensure that you are not prevented from bringing a claim.
   


2. If you cannot send your form to the Employment Tribunal in time, you can ask the Tribunal to extend the time limit. Any request has to be made within the initial time limit, and you should give full reasons for your request. The Tribunal will consider your request and decide whether to allow an extension. Bear in mind that the Tribunal may not grant your request – if they do not, you need to be prepared to file a response in any event.
   
   
3. You must ensure that the response is completed correctly on the correct form. If the form is not completed correctly, it will be rejected by the Employment Tribunal.

If you fail to present your claim within the time limit (or other time period granted by the Employment Tribunal on request) using the correct form, giving the correct information, the Employment Tribunal can refuse to accept your claim.

Gathering the evidence

When your response has been received by the Employment Tribunal, it is likely that the Employment Tribunal will give the parties “directions” on how to proceed. These are likely to set out the duty to disclose documents, prepare witness statements, and prepare a bundle for trial. The key to successfully winning a claim for unfair dismissal is in the preparation, and it is imperative that evidence is carefully gathered and presented to the Employment Tribunal.

Settling your claim

We always recommend that settlement of claims should be considered.  Settlement terms can not only include a sum of compensation or re-instatement/re-engagement, but can also impose obligations on your employer to, for example, provide a reference.

Contact Us

Should you wish to discuss any unfair dismissal claim further, we offer a FREE No Obligation initial telephone consultation. Please contact Laura Poole in the first instance on 01494 670440 or at lcp@chebsey.com.