Being dismissed is never a pleasant experience. You’ll immediately have concerns regarding your income, current bills, and what the future holds. However, before you do anything else you should take a moment to reflect.
It’s important to make a note of all the events that happened leading up to your dismissal. IN most cases it is automatically unfair to dismiss you without a warning. If you didn’t receive a warning you need to speak to an unfair dismissal lawyer as quickly as possible. You only have 21 days to register an unfair dismissal claim.
Reasons To Be Dismissed Without A Warning
If your contract was due to expire and the company isn’t going to renew it then you won’t get a warning, although the employer should advise you they are not renewing or extending your contract.
There are very few other occasions when you can be dismissed without a warning that it is going to happen.
The Dismissal Process
If you’re being dismissed because you’ve done something wrong to your performance isn’t good enough then there is a set process that your employer must follow. You should note this process is set by law and is the minimum an employer must do. Your contract may stipulate they do more than this.
When an employer has an issue with an employee they need to invite them to a meeting and tell them what they believe the issue is. At the meeting, they’ll reiterate the details and give you an opportunity to respond and explain your side of the issue.
If they feel the issue is valid they will provide you with a set period in which you need to improve. If you don’t improve you will be summoned to a further meeting under the same conditions. At this point, they can decide to terminate you.
However, you should note that while the law doesn’t stipulate how many choices you should have to improve, the general consensus is three warnings before you’re fired. This helps to show the employer is being fair and giving you the opportunity o improve or correct your behavior.
The Warning
If your employer has decided to issue you with a warning they must be very clear regarding what the warning is for and how they expect you to address the issue. This allows them to take follow-up action if necessary.
The key is for the employer to always give you an opportunity to improve or resolve an issue. Of course, the emphasis is on you to do so, simply failing to improve will result in a fair dismissal.
It is important to be aware that a first warning highlights an issue. If you resolve that issue you can’t move to a second warning for a different issue. Each issue must start with a first warning and move through the process. This is to ensure that the employer always acts fairly.
Any deviation from this will be considered unfair dismissal, in the same way, that being dismissed without notice is unfair.
