Wrongful dismissal 





Employees who cannot claim unfair dismissal (for example, because they have insufficient service) may be able to claim wrongful dismissal.





Wrongful dismissal is a claim for breach of contract, namely failure to give the proper contractual notice. In this type of claim, damages are normally limited to the wages that would have been earned during the notice period, less anything actually earned during that period (Smith v Trafford Housing Trust [2012] EWCA 3221). The employee has a duty to mitigate their loss (Cerberus Software v Rowley [2001] IRLR 160).



Where a contractual disciplinary, capability or appraisal procedure has not been followed, the employee will usually be entitled to be paid for the amount of time it would have taken to operate the procedure properly. They may sometimes also be entitled to an injunction preventing the employer carrying out a dismissal without following the procedure. 





A wrongful dismissal claim can be brought in either the civil courts or the employment tribunal. There is no financial cap on claims in the civil courts, but in the employment tribunal, compensation for breach of contract claims (including wrongful dismissal) is capped at £25,000.