Most important statutory limitations to unfair dismissal law since 2010


Here is a short summary of the most important limitations to the right to claim unfair dismissal introduced since 2010:

• most claims for unfair dismissal now 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 for all types of claim must submit an Acas Early Conciliation 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 Chaper 5). This important change 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 470 to 472;


 • the compensatory award has been capped at the lower of 52 weeks’ gross pay or the annual limit (£78,962 from 6 April 2016). In practice, the cap will affect very few claimants, as most compensation awards are much lower than this. The median unfair dismissal award in 2014-15 was just £6,955;


 • 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).