We live in difficult times, the economy is struggling and increasingly business finds itself in difficult times with the need to shed excess company weight.  Obviously there is more than one reason why someone would be dismissed from work and the state of the economy is just the new buzz word. 

Many employers have no choice but to dismiss an employee from their position and in all these cases the law must be followed:

The two questions needing to be asked are. Was the dismissal for a fair reason ? and Was the dismissal dealt with fairly ?

This means that an employer can dismiss an employee for a valid reason however it may of been handled badly and if this is the case an unfair dismissal claim can be made.

An employment tribunal will consider many reasons for dismissing an employee:
Capability

1] Does the employee have the right qualifications for the job?
2] Was the employee incompetent was this repeated incompetence or one specific incident and was proper training and warning given?
3] Was the employee genuinely poorly on a regular basis.  What was the illness and how much time was taken off work.  Did the employer consider alternative work for the employee.

An employee’s conduct can give the employer reasons for dismissal such as:
 
Theft, corruption, taking bribes, being drunk at work, taking drugs while at work, abusive behaviour, leaking confidential information, hacking into computer files including stealing passwords, being absent from work on a regular basis, being constantly late for work. 

Wearing unsuitable clothes, taking holidays without telling the boss, poor conduct with other staff members during office hours, unsuitable conduct outside work hours that can impact on the job and basically telling your boss in no uncertain terms what you think of him/her.

In addition to everything the tribunal will consider if the conduct of the employee was looked into thoroughly and if the employer believed the employee committed the offence.

Redundancy
In the case of redundancy your employer must follow a fair procedure of selection. Once the procedure has been decided the employer must stick to it.  An employer cannot select an employee for redundancy if it is based upon one of the Unfair Dismissal Exceptions.

Breaking the Law
If the employer is in danger of breaking the law by continuing an employment contract he may dismiss the subject provided he has checked whether the situation can be made legal.

Other Reasons
Other reasons can be wide and vast and tend to cover every possible additional reason from a major client demanding it happen through to an employee refusing to use computers.

Fairness of Procedure

Did the employer use a fair procedure and was the eventual outcome reasonable.

• Any Employment Tribunal would consider:
• If the employee was given a fair hearing.
• If the evidence was used at the hearing or used at all.
• If the employee had a representative at the hearing.
• If there was more than one employee involved.
• If the employee had done this before.
• If the employer considered warnings.
• If the employer considered the overall performance of the employee
• If the employer considered disciplining the employee instead of dismissing
• Whether the employee had an effective right of appeal
• Whether whole procedure carried out in the same way as previous procedures.

If you think you have a case of unfair dismissal you need to seek representation from a firm who ideally specialises in this area.