Unfair dismissal
Unfair dismissal is dismissal without a fair reason or fair process, or for a reason the law treats as automatically unfair.
Fairness depends on both reason and process
An employer needs a potentially fair reason and must act reasonably in treating it as grounds for dismissal. A genuine concern does not cure a rushed investigation, a predetermined hearing or a failure to consider the employee's explanation. Equally, completing a checklist does not make an unsupported decision fair.
Some reasons are automatically unfair. These are separate from ordinary unfair dismissal and the list is not confined to one area of employment law. The usual qualifying-service rule generally does not apply to an automatically unfair reason. Use the current Acas unfair-dismissal guidance to check the particular right involved.
Who can claim, and when?
Under the current transition timetable, the usual qualifying period for an ordinary unfair-dismissal claim remains two years when the effective date of termination is before 1 January 2027. It reduces to six months where the effective date of termination is on or after that date.
Under the tribunal time-limit transition, the usual deadline is three months less one day if the effective date of termination is before 1 October 2026. It is six months less one day if the effective date is on or after that date. Notifying Acas for early conciliation pauses the applicable limit. An internal appeal does not normally move the effective date or extend that deadline. Statutory notice can affect the service calculation, so avoid giving a case-specific answer without checking the dates.
Preserve the evidence behind the decision
Keep the stated reason, evidence considered, comparable cases, procedure followed, employee's response, alternatives, decision and appeal outcome. For redundancy, include the consultation and selection record. For conduct or capability, keep the investigation, expectations and support offered.
The useful question is not whether the file looks busy. It is whether the record shows a fair reason, a reasonable decision and a process in which the employee had a genuine chance to respond.
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