Unfair Dismissal: The Basics

If you’ve been dismissed from your job and you believe it was unfair, you may be able to bring a claim to the Employment Tribunal. This guide explains the essentials in plain English so you can understand where you stand and what to do next.

1) What ‘unfair dismissal’ means

Unfair dismissal is a legal claim that challenges the fairness of an employer’s decision to dismiss you. The Tribunal looks at whether the employer had a potentially fair reason and whether they acted reasonably and followed a fair process.

2) Do you have the right to claim?

In many cases you need a minimum period of continuous employment to claim unfair dismissal, but there are important exceptions. Some dismissals can be ‘automatically unfair’ and may not require the usual qualifying service.

3) Common potentially fair reasons

Employers often rely on one of these reasons. The key question is whether the employer acted reasonably in treating that reason as sufficient to dismiss.

• Conduct (for example, alleged misconduct)

• Capability or performance (including ill health)

• Redundancy

• Statutory restriction (for example, losing the right to work)

• Some other substantial reason (SOSR)

4) Process matters: fairness is not just the reason

Even if an employer has a potentially fair reason, the dismissal can still be unfair if the process was flawed. Typical issues include lack of investigation, no warning, no chance to respond, no right of appeal, or inconsistent treatment compared with others.

5) Time limits and early conciliation

Tribunal claims are time-sensitive. Before you can submit a claim, you usually need to start ACAS Early Conciliation. Missing deadlines can end a case before it begins, so it’s important to act quickly.

6) What you can ask the Tribunal for

Remedies can include compensation and, in some cases, reinstatement or re-engagement. The value of a claim depends on factors such as loss of earnings, how the dismissal happened, and what steps you took to mitigate your losses.

Next steps

If you want to move forward, start by gathering key documents (contract, dismissal letter, notes of meetings, emails) and writing a clear timeline of events. A structured timeline is often the fastest way to identify strengths, weaknesses, and what evidence you’ll need.

Important: This guide is general information and not legal advice. If you’d like calm, practical support preparing your case, TribunalReady can help you get organised and tribunal-ready.