Fixed-term contracts
When a fixed-term contract expires and is not renewed,
there is a dismissal. Under the provisions of the Employ-
ment Relations Act 1999, the ERA 1996 is amended so
that an employee can no longer waive his or her right
to claim unfair dismissal where a contract for one year
or more is not renewed. It used to be possible to forgo
the right to claim a redundancy payment at the end of a
fixed-term contract that was of at least two years’ dura-
tion. This is no longer possible by reason of the Fixed-term
Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment)
Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/2034).
Dismissal – grounds for
If an employer is going to escape liability for unfair dis-
missal, he or she must show that they acted reasonably
and, indeed, the ERA 1996, s 92 requires the employer
to give their reasons for dismissal to the employee in
writing.
Part 4Business resources
542
Dear Date
On ................ you were informed that ................ [insert organisation name] was considering dismissing OR
taking disciplinary action [insert proposed action] against you.
This was discussed in a meeting on ................ At this meeting, it was decided that: [delete as applicable]
Your conduct/performance/etc was still unsatisfactory and that you be dismissed.
Your conduct/performance/etc was still unsatisfactory and that the following disciplinary action would be
taken against you ................
No further action would be taken against you.
The reasons for your dismissal are:
I am therefore writing to you to confirm the decision that you be dismissed and that your last day of service
with the Company will be ................
The reasons for your dismissal are:
I am therefore writing to you to confirm the decision that disciplinary action will be taken against you. The
action will be ................ The reasons for this disciplinary action are:
You have the right of appeal against this decision. Please [write] to ........ within ........ days of receiving this
disciplinary decision.
Yours sincerely
Signed ManagerFigure 16.4Letter to be sent by the employer after the disciplinary meeting arranged in letter
(for statutory procedure)
Source: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid= 920
It should be remembered that the question of whether
a dismissal is fair or not is a matter of factfor the particu-
lar tribunal hearing the case, and one cannot predict
with absolute accuracy what a particular tribunal will do
on the facts of a particular case. Basically, when all is said
and done, the ultimate question for a tribunal is – ‘was
the dismissal fair and reasonable’ in fact?
A problem that has arisen in this connection is
whether the tribunal in looking at reasonable employer
responses can decide the issue on the basis of what it
thinks is reasonable or unreasonable or whether the
tribunal must decide the matter by considering the
range of reasonable responses employers might make.
The matter was resolved by the Court of Appeal in
Post Officev Foley; HSBC Bankv Madden(2001) where
the court ruled that tribunals were not to approach the
matter of reasonableness or unreasonableness of a dis-
missal by reference to their own judgment of what
would have been done if they had been the employer.
Thus, a tribunal should conclude that a dismissal is fair