Every employee has the right not to be unfairly dismissed by their employer.

To win an unfair dismissal claim, the employee must have been employed for at least one year (or more in certain circumstances) and they must prove they have been dismissed. It is then up to the employer to show that the dismissal was for one of five permitted reasons:

1. Redundancy
   Redundancy arises either when you plan to close down your business or part of it, at the location where employees work; or where your business no longer needs as many workers to carry on a particular type of work. In order for a Redundancy dismissal to be fair, a full and proper procedure must have been carried out. Failure to do so is likely to result in the employee to being entitled to claim Unfair Dismissal as well as an uplift on the compensation award from between 10-50%.
   
   
2. Illegality
   The employee may have committed or been accused of a criminal offence at work or out of working hours. Sometimes this means it may be reasonable to dismiss that worker. For example, if it is essential for the employee to have a driving licence to carry out their work and they lose their licence then it may be necessary to sack them.
   
   
3. Capability
   If an employee is not up to the job for which they have been employed, does not have the right qualifications for that job or if they are ill and absent from work for long periods then dismissal under capability may be reasonable.
   
   Don't forget however that you must ensure that a full and proper procedure is carried out as failure to do so is likely to result in the employee winning an unfair dismissal claim against you as well as an increase in the compensation award.
   
   
4. Conduct
   Persistently breaking the rules, theft or fraud are perhaps the most common reason to dismiss an employee.
   
   As with any dismissal, it is vital to make sure that dismissal is reasonable in the circumstances and that a full and proper procedure has been carried out as failure to do so is likely to result in the employee winning a claim for unfair dismissal as well as an increase in their compensation
   
   
5. Some other substantial reason
   If it can be shown that the reason for the dismissal was a ‘substantial reason of a kind such as to justify the dismissal of an employee holding the position which that employee held’ the dismissal is regarded as potentially fair even if it is not one of the other four reasons above.

Even if an employer can show that the dismissal was for one of the five fair reasons, they must still satisfy an Employment Tribunal that a full and proper procedure had been carried out.

Our specialist employment solicitors provide advice on how to dismiss someone fairly as well as dealing with situations where Unfair Dismissal has occurred.

It is vital to follow the correct procedures in dismissing workers as statistics show that approximately 97% of employers lose unfair dismissal claims on the basis of not following these correctly.

Employment tribunals have the power to award costs against either party but this does not happen often. Therefore it is better to assume that both parties will bear their own costs in any unfair dismissal tribunal case.

For any further enquiries, contact us today for advice from an expert employment law solicitor in our Salisbury and Andover offices.