There are many reasons why an employer may wish to dismiss an employee but no matter what the reason it is naturally an unpleasant and awkward matter to deal with and can carry the risk of the employee bringing a claim in the Employment Tribunal.
There are many pitfalls and traps for employers to fall into and therefore it is always a sensible precaution to discuss any potential dismissal with an experienced adviser beforehand.
In many cases the employee will be just as keen to avoid having to go through ‘the process’ of being dismissed as the employer once they are aware of the reasons. It is very common these days for employers to try and agree an exit package for the employee to leave whilst having the employee sign a formal agreement not to pursue any claims against the employer i.e. a Settlement Agreement.
For further information see the section on Settlement Agreements.
When it comes to winning or losing in an unfair dismissal claim much weight is placed on the process that is followed. It needn’t be a long or complex process just fair and reasonable but there are somethings that an Employment Tribunal will expect to see and we can advise you on your process.
Any documents that are created during the disciplinary or dismissal process may end up being carefully scrutinised by an Employment Tribunal and therefore having them professionally prepared is often a good investment. Important documents that can be drafted for you are:-
All situations are different, in many cases employees will obviously not be happy but will accept dismissal. But quite often you will come across an employee who will ‘play the game’ as well as ‘take on’ the employer to make dismissing them as difficult as possible. This is particularly a risk when an employee may be getting advice on their situation and tactically how to play it.
Some of the typical tactics adopted by employees faced with dismissal are:-
Having formally been a specialist employment Solicitor for 15 years there is nothing that I haven’t seen before and I will be able to advise you on the best tactics to counter the above strategies.
The cornerstone of any potential misconduct dismissal is the investigation. Unfortunately such investigations can take up a lot of time and even then may not meet the standards expected of an Employment Tribunal.
I am happy to undertake the disciplinary investigation for you. See the independent investigation section for more details.
In smaller businesses it is likely that same director who dismissed may also have to hear the appeal. This does not sit comfortably with a fair process. If your business has this problem or perhaps if you simply cannot afford the time to undertake this then let me do this on your behalf. See the independent appeal officer section for more details.
For more details on any of the above or if you want free no-obligation quote for any aspect of dismissing an employee please just get in touch.