Dismissal in UK Law
-
Abernethy v Mott, Hay and Anderson
“
A reason for the dismissal of an employee is a set of facts known to the employer, or it may be of beliefs held by him, which cause him to dismiss the employee. He may knowingly give a reason different from the real reason out of kindness or because he might have difficulty in proving the facts that actually led him to dismiss; or he may describe his reasons wrongly through some mistake of language or of law.
-
Eastwood v Magnox Electric Plc
“
An employee's remedy for unfair dismissal, whether actual or constructive, is the remedy provided by statute. If before his dismissal, whether actual or constructive, an employee has acquired a cause of action at law, for breach of contract or otherwise, that cause of action remains unimpaired by his subsequent unfair dismissal and the statutory rights flowing therefrom. By definition, in law such a cause of action exists independently of the dismissal.
Exceptionally, financial loss may flow directly from the employer's failure to act fairly when taking steps leading to dismissal. Another instance is cases such as those now before the House, when an employee suffers financial loss from psychiatric or other illness caused by his pre-dismissal unfair treatment. In such cases the employee has a common law cause of action which precedes, and is independent of, his subsequent dismissal.
-
Orr v Milton Keynes Council
“
(6) In doing the exercise set out at (5), the ET must consider, by the objective standards of the hypothetical reasonable employer, rather than by reference to its own subjective views, whether the employer has acted within a "band or range of reasonable responses" to the particular misconduct found of the particular employee.
-
Laws v London Chronicle (Indicator Newspapers) Ltd
“
To my mind, the proper conclusion to be drawn from the passages I have cited and the cases to which we have been referred is that, since a contract of service is but an example of contracts in general, so that the general law of contract will be applicable, it follows that the question must be - if summary dismissal is claimed to be justifiable - whether the conduct complained of is such as to show the servant to have disregarded the essential conditions of the contract of service.
-
Polkey v A. E. Dayton Services Ltd
“
Thus, in the case of incapacity, the employer will normally not act reasonably unless he gives the employee fair warning and an opportunity to mend his ways and show that he can do the job; in the case of misconduct, the employer will normally not act reasonably unless he investigates the complaint of misconduct fully and fairly and hears whatever the employee wishes to say in his defence or in explanation or mitigation; in the case of redundancy, the employer will normally not act reasonably unless he warns and consults any employees affected or their representative, adopts a fair basis on which to select for redundancy and takes such steps as may be reasonable to avoid or minimise redundancy by redeployment within his own organisation.
-
Kuzel v Roche Products Ltd
“
Unfair dismissal and discrimination on specific prohibited grounds are, however, different causes of action. The statutory structure of the unfair dismissal legislation is so different from that of the discrimination legislation that an attempt at cross fertilisation or legal transplants runs a risk of complicating rather than clarifying the legal concepts.
- The Unfair Dismissal and Statement of Reasons for Dismissal (Variation of Qualifying Period) Order 2012
- The Unfair Dismissal (Variation of the Limit of Compensatory Award) Order 2013
- The Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011 (Appeals against Dismissal by SCRA) Regulations 2012
- The Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011 (National Convener Appeal against Dismissal) Regulations 2011
- JOB SECURITY AND UNFAIR DISMISSAL
- UNFAIR DISMISSAL AND REINSTATEMENT
-
Redfearn v UK: Political Association and Dismissal
In Redfearn v UK the European Court of Human Rights examined the question whether dismissal for membership of a political party is compatible with freedom of association under Article 11 of the Eur...
- Public Law Principles Applicable to Dismissal from Employment
-
Constructive Dismissal
Two constructive dismissal cases have been decided since our last newsletter which make for interesting reading. The first case serves as a reminder of how not to approach making changes to terms a...
-
Reinstatement Following Dismissal
In McBride v Scottish Police Authority [2016] UKSC 27, the Supreme Court considered whether an Employment Tribunal had been wrong to order the reinstatement of an employee on restricted duties. ...
-
Employment News: unfair dismissal
Looking back – limited appeal investigation not unfair - It was not unfair for an employer to place limits on a disciplinary appeal investigation where the employee's representative had ...
-
Resignation and Constructive Dismissal
In Chindove v William Morrisons Supermarket Plc UKEAT/0201/13/BA, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered whether an employee had lost the right to claim constructive dismissal because he h...