What is a fair dismissal?
In a claim to an employment tribunal the employer has to show that the reason for the dismissal, or the principal reason if there is more than one, was one of the five statutory fair reasons under the Employment Rights Act. These are because: • of the capability or lack of qualifications of the employee for performing work of the kind which he or she was employed to do, • of the employee’s conduct • the employee’s job was redundant • of retirement of the employee at age 65, or the organisation’s normal retirement age • continued employment would have meant that the employer or employee would have been breaking the law. If the reason is not one of these five reasons, but there was some other substantial reason that justified the dismissal of the employee, then it can still be a fair dismissal.
