A. Unfair dismissal is when the following happens:
(a) An employee is dismissed and they qualify for the right to bring an unfair dismissal claim.
(b) The employer did not have a fair reason to dismiss the employee.
(c) Or The Employer did have a fair reason but the matter was dealt with unfairly.
Unfair dismissal is a statutory right as it is covered by an Act of Parliament.

A. To qualify for unfair dismissal protection an employee must have the following:
(a) The employee must be working full or part time, the actual amount of hours worked each week is irrelevant. Self-employed workers are excluded.
(b) At least one year's continuous employment.
(c) Be below 65 or normal retirement age for the job at the date of their dismissal although a recent case has thrown doubt on this and you should speak to us if you are thinking about ending the employment of someone over 65 as they may have grounds for a claim even though of that age.

A. Normally an employee has to have one year's continuous employment with an employer to bring a claim for unfair dismissal. The exceptions to this are:
(a) If the dismissal is connected to the Employees' Trade Union Act activities.
(b) The employee is dismissed for belonging to a Trade Union.
(c) The employee is dismissed for refusing to joining a Trade Union.
(d) Dismissal was connected with the employee's pregnancy and maternity rights.
(e) Dismissal of shop workers for those working in the betting industry who will object to working on a Sunday.
(f) Dismissal relating to a worker asserting their rights under Employment Rights.
(g) Dismissal of an employee observing Health and Safety Rules.
(h) Dismissal of a worker elected as a representative for collective redundancy or transfer consultation process.

A. An employee must bring an unfair dismissal claim within three months of being dismissed. Extensions of this time are very rare, if an employee does not bring a claim within this time the employee will lose the right to complain.

A. An employee is entitled to Legal Aid Advice & Assistance which will enable an employee's Solicitor to prepare the various documentations and continue to advise the employee up and until the date of hearing. Entitlement to Legal Aid Advice & Assistance is based on an assessment of the employee's income. For the hearing itself, the Solicitor must make a separate application for advice by way of representation. There are various hurdles to overcome and the extension of Legal Aid to representation at Tribunals is not guaranteed.

A. The employer by law must give an employee a statement "of employment within two months of the employee starting work". This covers what would normally be in a contract of employment, however, this is not a contract between the employer and employee. If no statement has been given within two months, then an employee can apply to an Employment Tribunal within three months of termination of the employment for the Tribunal to determine what should have been in the statement.

A. The employer must include the following terms in an employment statement:
(1) Names of the Employer and Employee.
(2) Date the Employment started, including any periods of continuous employment with a previous employer, where the previous employer was taken over by the new employer.
(3) Pay, including Employee's scale of pay and how it is calculated.
(4) When the employee will be paid.
(5) Hours of work and terms related to the employee's hours.
(6) Holidays.
(7) Sickness procedure and entitlements.
(8) Pension Scheme details.
(9) Notice period.
(10) Job Title and description of job.
(11) Where the employees are expected to work.
(12) Any collective agreements which directly affect the terms and Conditions of Employment.
(13) Details of work abroad if it is for longer than one month.
(14) The length of the contract.
(15) Disciplinary rules and complaints procedure.

A. An employee is not allowed to discriminate on the following grounds:
(1) Sex of employee.
(2) Marital status of the employee.
(3) Race (this means colour, race, nationality, ethnic origins).
(4) Also an employer cannot victimise an employee following a complaint for discrimination nor giving evidence in a complaint brought by another employee.

A. If an employee is able to overcome the hurdle of having their illness found as a disability within the terms of the Disability Discrimination Act, they will be able to complain that the employer discriminated against them in consequence of their disability. An employee need not have any length of service in order to complain of disability.

A. Broadly speaking, a disability may be a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse affect on his or her ability to carry out normal day to day activities. Therefore if an employee is complaining of stress that may be defined as a disability in terms of the legislation.