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10. Dismissal
[ch 10: page 341]Most important changes to unfair dismissal law since 2010
Here is a short summary of the most important changes to unfair dismissal law since 2010:
• since 2012, most claims for unfair dismissal require two years’ continuous service;
• tribunal fees totalling £1,200 must be paid to bring any unfair dismissal claim, made up of an issue fee of £250 and a hearing fee of £950. There are further fees for any appeal. A few claimants may qualify for remission (now called “Help with fees”). For more information, see Chapter 13;
• potential claimants must submit an Acas EC Form to Acas before any claim can be issued in the tribunal. This is a mandatory requirement. The only exception is a claim for interim relief (see Chapter 5). Acas EC is explained in Chapter 13;
• in a claim for ordinary (but not automatic) unfair dismissal, claimants are barred from telling the tribunal about any discussions with their employer that were aimed at ending the employment on agreed terms, unless there is evidence of “improper behaviour”. This development (often referred to as the “protected conversation”) is explained on pages 510 to 512;
• the compensatory award has been capped at the lower of 52 weeks’ gross pay or the annual limit (£80,541 from 6 April 2017). In practice, the cap affects very few claimants, as most compensation awards are much lower than this. The median unfair dismissal award in 2015-16 was £7,332;
• unfair dismissal protection for employees involved in a TUPE transfer has been substantially reduced, through changes to TUPE introduced from 30 January 2014 (see chapter 12).
Who is allowed to bring a claim for unfair dismissal?
To bring a claim for unfair dismissal you must:
• be an employee (see Chapter 2);
• have been dismissed (see below);
• have (in most cases) at least two years’ continuous employment by the “effective date of termination”. This phrase has a precise technical meaning, explained on page 376. For some types of dismissal (summarised below), no service is needed.
No service is needed for a claim of:
• automatically unfair dismissal (except for dismissals due to a business transfer or a spent conviction). Automatically unfair dismissal is explained on page 370;
• dismissal related to political belief (see page 369); and
• discriminatory dismissal (see Chapter 7: Discrimination).
The first step in all claims (except a claim for interim relief – see Chapter 5) is to send an Acas Early Conciliation (EC) Notification Form to Acas. This new mandatory step must be taken within three months of the dismissal date. Deadlines are applied strictly in the employment tribunal.
For information on how to calculate the three-month period, see page 378. Acas EC impacts on the tribunal time limit for submitting a Claim Form ET1. This is explained in Chapter 13, which also contains information about Acas EC and tribunal fees, and general information about bringing a tribunal claim. Acas EC is free of charge..
The tribunal has a discretion to extend time to bring a tribunal claim, but requests to extend time rarely succeed. See page 378 for information about making a request in the context of unfair dismissal.
If interim relief is sought, the deadline is much shorter — just seven days. It cannot be extended.
There is no upper age limit on the right to claim unfair dismissal.