Unfair Dismissal Lawyers in Paisley
Employment law is a difficult and notoriously tricky part of the law. Based in Paisley, Scotland, our team of expert lawyers have years of experience working with clients to make sure that their cases are dealt with as smoothly as possible. At Hunter & Robertson, our solicitors offer a sympathetic, efficient and practical approach to dealing with our clients’ legal issues confidentially. Contact us today to find out how we can help.
Feel like you have been dismissed unfairly?
Employees, under statutory employment law, have the right to complain to an Employment Tribunal if they think that they were dismissed unfairly or unreasonably. In the majority of these cases, employees must have been employed for over two years to be able to make an unfair dismissal claim. This is not the case if the dismissal is automatically unfair.
As well as arguing that they have been unfairly dismissed, employees may also argue that is has been done on discriminatory grounds, be it on race, disability, religion, sex, age, political opinion, or sexual orientation.
Employees are always advised to seek advice from a lawyer specialising in employment law at the earliest stage possible. This ensures that all the appropriate claims will be brought within the time limit of three months, minus one day.
It is important to know what constitutes fair or unfair dismissal before making a claim, as employers have a number of ways to legally dismiss an employee. The law says it is fair for an employee to be dismissed on the following grounds:
- If an employer believes that an employee has engaged in misconduct at work.
- Being underqualified, or incapable of doing the job
- Redundancy
- A statutory requirement which prevents the employer from being able to continue employing an individual
- Any other substantial reason
If an employer does convince a tribunal that they dismissed an employee on any of the reasons given above, they must be able to show that they have followed the guidelines for reasonable procedure which have been set out in the ACAS Code of Practice. This is on top of them having to show that the reason they have dismissed someone on grounds which are within a reasonable range of responses which are open to them. It is a complex are of the law, and one which our team of expert lawyers can advise you on whether your claim against your employer is likely to succeed or not. It is advised, however, that as time limits for claims are so short, that advice must be sought as soon as possible.
When an employee claims that they have been dismissed for an automatically unfair reason, it is not required that they must have been employed for a qualifying period, usually of two years, before they submit a claim. A dismissal can be put in the category of ‘automatically unfair’ for a number of reasons, including on the grounds of:
- - A disclosure which was made in the public interest, under the whistleblowing legislation.
- - Activities surrounding health and safety.
- - Taking action to ensure they receive their statutory employment rights.
- - Applying for flexible working.
- - Pregnancy or maternity leave, paternity leave, parental leave, adoption leave, or time taken off to look after dependants.
- - Acting to ensure part-time or fixed term workers’ rights.
- - Refusing to give up Working Time Regulations.
- - Taking action to make sure the National Minimum Wage is being enforced.
- - Functioning as a pension fund trustee.
- - Taking action as a representative of employees for the purposes of collective redundancy consultation.
- - Partaking in lawful industrial action.
- - Being a member of a trade union, or taking part in trade union events.
Constructive dismissal is the name given to the resignation of an employee in response to significant and fundamental breaches of contract by their employer.
A typical case will involve an employee who has been dismissed, and an employer must be able to establish a fair reason for the dismissal. In a constructive dismissal case, the employee has resigned, and it looks like there has been no action on behalf of the employer to instigate the dismissal.
Not all breaches of contract will mean an employee is entitles to resign and claim constructive dismissal. An employee will need to have resigned very close to the alleged breach of contract in order to claim constructive dismissal. An employee should spend a long time thinking about resigning on this grounds, as it is notoriously difficult to win constructive dismissal cases. It is important in these cases to seek legal advice as soon as possible.
It is important to remember that an employee who has resigned will be on no income, and there will be no guarantee that their claim for constructive unfair dismissal will be successful. A claim must be lodged with the Tribunal within the time frame of three months, minus one day since the last day of their employment.
Contact our Employment Law Solicitors in Paisley, Scotland
If you feel like you have been unfairly dismissed, or have any work-related issues you wish to speak to our team of lawyers about, contact us today on 0141 889 3196, or fill out our online contact form.