Employment Law & Unfair Dismissal Claims No Win, No Fee

Unfair dismissal is when your employer fires you without a fair reason or without following proper procedure, essentially, you’ve been given the boot unjustly. In the UK, employees with over 2 years’ service (in most cases) have the right not to be unfairly dismissed. “Fair” reasons for dismissal include things like capability (you can’t do the job or are ill long-term), conduct (serious misconduct), redundancy (the role is no longer needed), or if continuing to employ you would break the law (like you lost a required license). Even if there’s a potentially fair reason, the employer must also follow a fair process (e.g. investigate, warn you of issues, follow their disciplinary procedure, give you a chance to respond). If they don’t have a good reason and/or they handle it in a blatantly unfair way, you’ve likely been unfairly dismissed. Example: your boss fires you on the spot because of a trivial mistake, or replaces you with their cousin without warning, not cool, and probably unfair dismissal. Some reasons are automatically unfair, too, like firing someone for pregnancy, whistleblowing, or trying to assert a statutory right (those don’t require 2 years’ service). If you suspect your sacking wasn’t above board, WeSueAnyone.com’s employment law team can advise. We’ll check if the reason and process pass the smell test. If not, you can take action (usually via an Employment Tribunal) for compensation or potentially reinstatement. Bottom line: employers can’t just say “You’re fired!” on a whim, not without consequences.

It can be tricky, but start by asking: why were you dismissed, and how was it done? Your employer should have given you a clear reason (in writing, usually) and ideally followed a disciplinary or consultation process. If you were fired for reasons that feel unfair (e.g. you were actually doing fine at your job, or you were sick but had a doctor’s note, or you were made “redundant” but then they hired someone else in your role), that’s suspect. Also, if procedure was skipped, no warnings, no meeting, no chance to appeal, that’s a red flag. Certain reasons are automatically unfair, as mentioned: for instance, if you were dismissed for being pregnant, for reporting wrongdoing (whistleblowing), for joining a union or asserting your rights like minimum wage or refusing to work Sundays (in retail), those are unlawful no matter what. Sometimes the unfairness is obvious, sometimes it’s subtle. We might need to compare how others were treated (were you singled out?) or whether the punishment fit the alleged misconduct. If you got sacked for a first minor offense with no warning, likely unfair. At WeSueAnyone.com we often hear from people who “just have a gut feeling” it was unjust, trust that instinct and get legal advice. We’ll review the facts and the employer’s stated reason. If it doesn’t add up to a fair dismissal in the tribunal’s eyes, you likely have a claim for unfair dismissal. Remember, you usually need 2+ years service for a normal unfair dismissal claim (unless it’s automatic unfair). If you’re not sure, reach out… we’ll help you figure it out.

Unfair dismissal claims are handled by the Employment Tribunal (not the civil courts). The process goes like this: First, you must contact Acas (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) for “Early Conciliation.” This is essentially a required step, you fill in a form on Acas’s website (free of charge) to notify them you intend to claim, and an Acas conciliator will offer to talk to you and your ex-employer to see if a settlement can be reached. Early Conciliation usually lasts up to 6 weeks and can be quicker if a deal is or isn’t possible. If no resolution, Acas gives you a certificate number. Then you file a claim to the Employment Tribunal (ET1 form) online, using that certificate number. Important: the time limit to start a claim is very short, typically 3 months minus one day from the date your employment ended . So don’t miss that deadline even while going through Acas conciliation! Once your claim is filed, your employer (now the Respondent) will send in a response (ET3 form). The tribunal will then set directions: possibly a preliminary hearing (especially if there are jurisdiction issues or you need to discuss what the issues are), then exchange of witness statements, maybe a bundle of documents, and finally a full hearing where both sides give evidence. WeSueAnyone.com can represent you through all this, drafting your claim, negotiating via Acas, preparing your case, and advocating at the hearing. Tribunal hearings are less formal than court but still can be nerve-wracking, we’ll make sure you’re prepped and we’ll do the talking where possible. If the tribunal finds in your favour, they’ll award a remedy, usually compensation, sometimes reinstatement (though reinstatement is rare if relations have soured). The key takeaway: start the process quickly (the 3-month clock is ticking), and use a solicitor or experienced advisor if you can, because employment law can be complex.

Absolutely … and it’s one of the strictest deadlines in law. You have only 3 months minus one day from the date your employment ends to start your claim at the Employment Tribunal . For example, if your last day was 1st April, your claim deadline is 30th June (till 11:59pm that night to submit the ET1 form online). This deadline includes going through the mandatory Acas Early Conciliation, but fortunately, starting conciliation “stops the clock” for a little while. Still, you must contact Acas within that 3-month minus a day window. Don’t wait until the last minute; if you miss this deadline, the tribunal will likely refuse your case (except in exceptional circumstances). There are virtually no extensions, except if it was not “reasonably practicable” to claim in time (a high bar … e.g. you were comatose in hospital or such) or for discrimination cases which use a slightly different test (“just and equitable”). But for unfair dismissal, assume 3 months is it. If you were dismissed in, say, a redundancy or fired via letter, use the effective date of termination, often the end of your notice period or the date stated in the letter as the starting point. It can get tricky if you’re on garden leave or forced to resign (constructive dismissal) but the rule still is roughly 3 months. We can’t stress enough: get the ball rolling quickly. WeSueAnyone.com will help ensure your claim is filed in time after doing Acas conciliation. Mark that date on your calendar in bold red ink!

The Employment Tribunal can award you compensation for unfair dismissal, and in rare cases, they can order your employer to give you your job back (reinstatement or re-engagement). Most people go for compensation rather than returning to a workplace that just sacked them. The compensation for unfair dismissal has two parts: Basic Award and Compensatory Award. The Basic Award is a bit like a redundancy payment, it’s based on your age, years of service, and weekly pay (capped at a certain amount per week). It’s calculated as so many weeks of pay (e.g. 1 week per year of service, more if you’re over 41) . We’ll crunch those numbers for you. The Compensatory Award is for your actual losses, primarily your lost earnings because of the dismissal. The tribunal looks at how much money you lost from being out of work (or in a lower paid job) from the dismissal until you find new work, taking into account things like how long it reasonably takes to get a new job. They can also include things like loss of benefits (company car, pension contributions) and sometimes expenses for job hunt or moving for a new job. This compensatory award is capped by law (the cap is the lower of a year’s gross salary or a set figure that changes annually, roughly around £90k-ish currently). Notably, if you win on certain automatically unfair grounds or discrimination (which is a separate claim), compensation can be higher or uncapped, but plain unfair dismissal has that cap. Also, if you contributed to your dismissal (say you did something wrong too) or didn’t try hard to find a new job, the tribunal might reduce your award. In summary, you could get a few thousand pounds on the low end, to tens of thousands on the high end, depending on your salary and job search time. WeSueAnyone.com will help calculate a reasonable award and we often negotiate a settlement (sometimes termed a settlement agreement) with your employer to get an agreed sum and avoid the hearing. Many unfair dismissal cases settle with an agreement and reference for the employee. Our aim is to get you compensated fairly so you can move on with your life.

Constructive dismissal is a bit different but related concept: it’s when you resign because your employer’s behavior was so awful that you’re effectively forced out. In other words, your employer didn’t fire you outright, but they breached your contract or treated you so badly that you had no real choice but to quit. That resignation is then treated as an “unfair dismissal” initiated by the employer’s conduct. Examples: your boss demotes you without good reason, cuts your pay by 50% out of the blue, allows bullying or harassment to go unchecked, or seriously breaches trust (maybe falsifying your performance reviews). If you resign in direct response to that, asserting it was the last straw, that can be constructive dismissal. It’s basically saying: “I didn’t technically get fired, but I might as well have, they pushed me out.” These claims can be a bit tougher to win than ordinary unfair dismissal, because you have to show the employer’s breach was fundamental and that you resigned because of it (and not much later). But they follow the same process and time limit as unfair dismissal (3 months, Acas, tribunal, etc.), and you need 2 years’ service in most cases (unless the reason you were forced out was discriminatory or other automatically unfair reason). If you find yourself in a toxic workplace and feel compelled to quit, talk to us before resigning if possible, we can advise on how to do so in a way that best supports a constructive dismissal claim. Many people have won these claims when employers really cross the line. WeSueAnyone.com has helped clients turn a bad situation into a positive outcome through constructive dismissal claims. Don’t suffer in silence, if your job becomes truly unbearable due to your employer’s breach, this legal route is there to protect you.