The Employment Rights Act 1996 gives guidance on the procedures employers should follow before dismissing employees.

In all cases the procedure should be have be fair and the employer should act reasonably in the circumstances.

As a general rule, an employee must have been continuously employed for one year before being eligible to claim that he has been unfairly dismissed. The exceptions to this are called the "automatically unfair dismissals", which are not subject to any test of reasonableness and apply regardless of the employee's length of service. Automatically unfair dismissals are numerous and include dismissals on the grounds of:

• Pregnancy or maternity, including selection for redundancy
• Taking leave for reasons relating to pregnancy, paternity, maternity, adoption, parental and dependant care
• Trade Union Membership, or activities including protected industrial action
• Adhering to Health and Safety Regulations
• Enforcing a Statutory Right
• Applying for flexible working
• Exercising a right to be accompanied, or accompanying another employee to disciplinary and grievance meetings
• A failure to declare spent convictions
• Making a protected disclosure in respect of certain categories of information
• Transfer of an undertaking
• A protected shop worker or betting shop worker refusing to work on a Sunday
• Trusteeship of an occupational pension scheme
• Reasonably attending jury service
• Seeking to enforce the minimum wage
• Seeking to enforce rights under the Working Time Regulations
• Seeking to secure the benefits of a tax credit
• Seeking to enforce rights under the Regulations relating to fixed-term employees and part-time employees
• Asserting a statutory right, such as the right to an itemised pay slip, statement of terms and conditions, minimum notice period, time off for union actitivites, not to have unlawful deductions from wages and asserting the right to time off for antenatal care.
• Certain of the above rights apply to workers as well as employees.

As an employee, you should be aware that if you feel that you have been unfairly dismissed, then you must first bring the matter to your employer's attention through the company's internal grievance procedure, before commencing a claim in the Employment Tribunal.

There are strict time limits for commencing claims in the Employment Tribunal and Courts.

If you believe you have a claim against your employer please complete our Free Online Assessment Form, now. We will then respond to you usually within 48 working hours, including a free, initial assessment of your claim.

Alternatively you can download the free initial assessment form and send it to net employment solicitors at the address on our contact page.