I think I have been unfairly dismissed. What can I do?

If you think that you have a case for unfair dismissal,

• get your evidence together
• get legal help

The time limit for lodging a claim for unfair dismissal at the Employment Tribunal is three months, less one day, from the effective date of termination of the contract of employment. This time limit is strictly applied.

What the end result could be

Why put yourself through it?  If successful, there are three likely outcomes: -

• Reinstatement - you could get your job back with no loss of money or security 
• Engagement - you could get another job with the same employer.
• Compensation - a basic award calculated in a similar way to a redundancy plus a compensatory award to compensate the employee for the financial losses incurred as a result of the dismissal.

The maximum compensatory award is updated every year, but unless you are a very high earner, it is rare for Tribunals to award the top amount.  Most will award for loss of earnings to the date of the hearing plus a limited amount to compensate for future loss.

Reinstatement and re-engagement are rarely ordered by Tribunals.

Tribunals can adjust awards up or down by 25% if they think that either the employer or employee unreasonably failed to follow the Acas code of practice (www.acas.org.uk).

Interim relief


In some special cases, you can apply urgently for an order for interim relief to reinstate you pending the main hearing. This is rare and usually only when there is a reasonable chance of reinstatement/engagement .  Examples might be because you were dismissed due to : -

• trade union or health and safety activities; 
• as a pension fund trustee; 
• acting in relation to union recognition; 
• exercising rights to be accompanied to a disciplinary or grievance hearing.

An application for interim relief has to be made within seven days of the dismissal.

Tribunals can adjust awards up or down by 25 percent if they think that either the employer or employee unreasonably failed to follow the Acas code of practice (www.acas.org.uk).