Unfair Dismissal Solicitors Leeds

Your Employer Must Prove ‘Fair Reason’

A termination must be fair and valid. If you have been dismissed your employer must provide a valid reason. The acceptable areas for a fair dismissal are as follows:

• Incompetence
  You didn’t show the relevant skills or hold the correct qualifications to perform the role required. Ill health may have also prevented you from being capable of carrying out the tasks to the required level.
• Misconduct
  You performed your role using inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour. This includes acting in a disobedient or violent manner, stealing or breaking any other terms outlined in your employment contract.
• Redundancy
  Redundancy is a specific area of employment termination. The correct guidelines and procedures must be followed, and an agreement that complies with all stipulation must be provided. For full details, please read our information on Redundancy and contact us to discuss your case.
• Retirement
  A compulsory retirement can only be enforced with fair justification. Specific factors (for example, a compulsory retirement age limit) must be presented in advance. All retirement stipulation must be considered fair, with details to be discussed before initiating proceedings, allowing the employee to object if deemed appropriate to do so.
• Statutory Illegality
  If you can no longer carry out the role due to lawful reasons: for example, you no longer hold the required legal licences, working visas or correct qualifications.
• Other Substantive Reason
  If your employer can prove any other unbefitting behaviour or performance related reason relative to the inadequate performance of the role, this also provides them with fair grounds for employee termination.

Procedural Fairness

You are also entitled to make a claim for unfair dismissal if the procedure by which your employment was terminated wasn’t carried out in accordance with the guidelines of what considered fair and just means.

Your employer is expected to follow the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary Procedures—although this is not a legal requirement. If an employer appears to have broken the guidelines set out by ACAS, they can be liable to heavy penalties delivering a claim award of up to 25%.

An unfair dismissal procedure must be subject to:

• A proper investigation
• Written notice of the intended disciplinary action
• A disciplinary hearing
• A hearing appeal

All facts regarding the intended dismissal must be gathered during the investigation. The employee should be included in the investigation where appropriate. They may choose to bring an official representative (a Trade Union member or work colleague), and any suspension should be carried out for as short a duration as possible and on full pay.

All circumstances and details of the investigation and the disciplinary decision should be included in the written notice.

An appropriate duration must be allowed for the employee to prepare for the hearing, to gather details of their defence and to arrange further witnesses.

On completion of the hearing, the outcome of the case must be supplied to the employee in a written document. The employee then has the right to appeal. If the employee chooses to appeal, a senior manager should be allocated to represent the manager.