Qualifying for Unfair Dismissal Protection
To qualify for Unfair Dismissal protection, an employee must meet the following conditions:
1. Working full or part-time, the number of hours worked per week is irrelevant. The self-employed are excluded.
2. Must have two years' continuous employment. However, see Unfair Dismissal Exceptions to this rule.
3. The employee's job ended less than three months ago. This is because an employee has only 3 months from the date of dismissal to bring the claim; see the 3-month rule for unfair dismissal.
It is, therefore, critical that you bring an unfair dismissal claim within the 3 months.
Many employees fall into the trap of going through a company appeal procedure that takes longer than three months, leaving them without the chance to make an unfair dismissal claim to an employment tribunal.
For example:
John, an IT manager, is dismissed from his work for hacking into computer files to obtain usernames & passwords. The usernames & passwords in question belonged to the IT Director. John was dismissed because this was the second time this had happened, and the employer had already disciplined him.
John decided to appeal because other employees frequently asked him to carry out tasks that required these usernames & passwords and access to be completed. The IT Director has been away from work due to ongoing health issues on and off for the past 12 months. This forms part of John's appeal, as the IT Director failed to make the usernames & passwords readily available to him.
The employer has stated that they must hear evidence from the IT Director as part of any appeal. However, the IT Director stays off work for another three months and the appeal process stalls.
John finally decides to make a claim for unfair dismissal; however, he is now out of time to do so. The employment tribunal will not accept the delayed company appeal process as an excuse to grant him an extension of time.
External links: gov.uk/employment-tribunals