What are the qualifying conditions required for an employee to bring a claim of unfair dismissal?
In what circumstances does an employee not need minimum qualifying service to claim unfair dismissal?
Does the April 2012 increase in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims from one to two years apply retrospectively?
How is the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims calculated?
Does an employee need a minimum period of service to bring a claim of unfair dismissal when dismissed by reason of a TUPE transfer?
Can an employee with less than the required service to claim unfair dismissal who believes that he or she has been unfairly selected for redundancy bring a tribunal claim?
Are there any employees who are not covered by unfair dismissal legislation?
Do the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 give agency workers the right to claim unfair dismissal?
Can an employee be dismissed on the basis that he or she did not disclose a medical condition on the application form?
Is it unlawful for an employer to dismiss an employee for incompetence?
Under the TUPE legislation, where an employee has a bad attendance or disciplinary record, is the transferee obliged to accept the employee?
When is it permissible for an employer to terminate the contract of an employee on the grounds of ill health?
Can an employee who is expected to have a long period of sickness absence due to injury sustained during participation in a dangerous sporting activity be dismissed earlier than would normally be the case?
Is it permissible to dismiss an employee on the grounds of misconduct that occurred outside the workplace?
Can an employer dismiss an employee because he or she is in prison?
Can an employer fairly dismiss an employee because he or she has a criminal conviction for football hooliganism?
Can an employee be dismissed for being a member of an extreme political party, for example the BNP?
If a contract of employment is terminated by mutual consent, is an employee still entitled to claim unfair dismissal?
Can an underperforming employee on a fixed-term contract be dismissed before the end of the fixed term?
Given that the expiry of a fixed-term contract constitutes dismissal, what will usually be a fair reason for dismissal?
There is no hard and fast rule on what
the reason will be for termination due to the expiry of a fixed-term contract.
If an employee has at least one year's service (or two years' service if his or her employment begins on or after 6 April 2012), regardless of whether some or
all of the service is on a fixed-term contract, he or she has acquired the
right not to be unfairly dismissed. Often, a fixed-term contract has been
imposed because there is a set piece of work to do. If that set piece of work
has come to an end, the reason for non-renewal is likely to be redundancy, on
the basis that the requirement for an employee to do the work has ceased or
diminished.
The employer should always consider why
it is not planning to renew a fixed-term contract and be able to match this
against one of the fair reasons for dismissal in the Employment Rights Act 1996
(eg conduct, capability, or redundancy). The employer must also follow the
correct procedures to ensure that the dismissal is fair.
Regardless of the employee's length of service the employer must ensure that the reason for non-renewal is not an unlawful ground such as pregnancy.
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