This guide provides managers with information on what happens when the decision is made to dismiss a member of their team and how to avoid mistakes that could lead to claims against their organisation
There are times when it’s necessary to terminate an employee’s contract and when that happens, you will need to work with your HR adviser and follow your employer’s dismissal process.
This process should set out the steps that need to be taken to terminate their contract in a fair, legal and reasonable way.
This guide is designed to help understand the dismissal process. How you respond as a manager could protect your organisation from having an Employment Tribunal (ET) claim, for example, for unfair dismissal or discrimination or any other claim for compensation by the affected employee. Your fair and appropriate handling of the situation is also important for the motivation and wellbeing of the rest of your team when a colleague is dismissed.
Under the Employment Rights Bill, the two-year unfair dismissal qualifying period will be replaced with new statutory probationary period arrangements. Keep up to date with the latest on these changes with our Tracker of potential law changes.
Currently, if someone has been working for their employer for less than two years, they may still be able to claim wrongful or automatically unfair dismissal if they are not given the correct amount of notice or if, for example, they are dismissed because they are pregnant or a whistleblower so care should be taken in every case.
This page outlines the current legislation for dismissal that should still be followed until any changes come into force. We will update this page once any changes are enforced.
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