What is the best way of ensuring that a disgruntled employee cannot bring a claim for unfair dismissal?
Ensure that there was a ‘fair’ reason for the dismissal, and that you acted reasonably in dismissing for that reason. There are only six potentially fair reasons which lawfully justify dismissal, and if you want to prevent a disgruntled employee from bringing an unfair dismissal claim, you must be able to establish at least one of these. The reasons are: • the conduct of the employee • the capability or qualifications of the employee – this is most likely to be relevant in cases of sickness or other long-term absence, or where the employee lacks the necessary skills or qualifications for doing the job • illegality – for example, where, someone has been employed to do something illegal, or is not legally entitled to work in the UK • redundancy (see Redundancy) • some other ‘substantial reason’ which justifies dismissal – for example, pressure from a third party customer • where the dismissal is of an employee who has reached 65, so the dismissal is for the purposes of the worker’s retir
