By law, you can usually dismiss an employee with less than 2 years service without the need to demonstrate a fair reason for the dismissal, and with no positive obligation to go through a fair disciplinary or dismissal procedure. This is because employees only gain statutory protection against unfair dismissal after accruing two years’ continuous service with the same employer.
It may be that you do not think an individual is the right fit for your company or organisation, or there could have been various conduct or capability issues that have raised legitimate concerns. For the employee with less than 2 years service, this may mean that their contract of employment can be lawfully terminated, without further investigation or prior warning, and without the need for you to defend either your decision to dismiss or the way in which this is handled.
In contrast, where an employee has worked for you for 2 or more years, you would need to provide one of five fair reasons as set out under the Employment Rights Act 1996, otherwise risk exposing yourself to an unfair dismissal claim.
The statutory fair reasons for dismissing an employee include: capability; conduct; redundancy; breach of a statutory restriction; or some other substantial reason (SOSR). SOSR is a ‘catch-all’ provision that can permit an employer to fairly dismiss an employee where no other potentially fair reason applies.
For employees who have a right to claim unfair dismissal, you would also need to show that you acted reasonably in treating any one of these statutory reasons as sufficient for dismissal, and that you followed a fair process throughout.
Talk to us if you need help today:
hello@davidsonmorris.com
davidsonmorris.com
020 7494 0118
