Unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal
If your business is affected by an employee either claiming wrongful dismissal or unfair dismissal against you, it is the last thing any business owner wants. It can be stressful, time-consuming and could result, if you have wrongfully dismissed or unfairly dismissed an employee, in a financial pay-out to them.
Our team can assist you in dealing with any claim for wrongful dismissal and unfair dismissal against your business.
Wrongful dismissal happens when you break the terms of an employment contract with one of your employees. If you fail to pay them their required notice then they can bring a claim for wrongful dismissal against you.
Wrongful dismissal is different to unfair dismissal.
Unfair dismissal occurs when an employee is fired and it is deemed to be unjust. It also occurs when you for a fair reason fire someone but do not follow your correct procedure. It can also occur where an employee resigns but claims they have only done so because of a breach of their contract by you. This is known as a constructive dismissal claim. There are legitimate reasons as to why you can terminate an employee’s employment, and if you require further advice upon those then please contact one of our team.
For a dismissal to be unfair, an employee should have two years’ employment with you, unless one of the statutory exceptions applies, which we can advise you upon. If you require advice about an unfair dismissal claim, then please contact us straight away.
Key stages
The fees set out cover all of the work in relation to the key stages of the claim:
- taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on the merits and likely compensation (this will be continually reviewed throughout your case and subject to change)
- entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore a possible settlement and can this be reached
- preparing the claim for conciliation and discussing potential offers with you
- preparing the claim or response
- reviewing and advising on the claim or response from your opponent
- exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
- preparing and considering details of the losses in the claim
- preparing for (and attending) a preliminary hearing
- exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents
- talking to all your witnesses
- obtaining statements, drafting those statements and agreeing the content with the witness
- preparing bundles of documents
- reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements
- agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or a list of people to give evidence at the tribunal hearing known as a cast list
- preparation and attendance at the final hearing, including instructions to Counsel
This list is not an exhaustive list and the more complex the claim, the more work that has to be undertaken on your behalf.
The stages set out above are an indication and if some of the stages above are not required, the fee may be reduced.
You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This would be arranged on an individual needs basis.
How long will my matter take?
The time it takes from taking your instructions to the final resolution depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved.
If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take 1-12 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a final hearing your case is likely to take 26-52 weeks. This is just an estimate and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information as the matter progresses. Please contact one of our employment team to discuss your matter.
Pricing
To see some detailed costs information click here.
