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Wrongful dismissal claims focus purely on whether your contract was terminated in accordance with the terms of your contract. Unfair dismissal claims look at the reasons why your employment was terminated and whether these are valid under prevailing employment law.
It is really important to seek specialist employment legal advice, otherwise you may:
If you are facing disciplinary or capability/performance proceedings then you may want to take advice about the likelihood of dismissal, and what you can do to protect yourself as far as possible. We can assist you with this, and we can give you a preliminary view of your prospects of bringing a successful unfair dismissal claim in the event that your employment is terminated. In short, we can work with you to explore a range of tactics and options, all geared toward securing the best possible outcome for you.
If you have resigned or are contemplating resignation because of unfair treatment at work, then you may be able to bring a claim for constructive dismissal. In order to succeed in this claim, you would have to prove that your employer committed a serious breach of contract. For example, they may have forced you to accept unreasonable changes to your employment, they may have demoted you or failed to pay you, or they may have allowed your colleagues to harass or bully you.
You may be considering resignation because of one very serious incident, or a series of less serious incident which, when taken together, could be considered to be a serious breach of your employer’s obligations to you.
Making a successful case for constructive dismissal is usually more difficult than that of straightforward unfair dismissal (where you have been sacked) as you need to show that your resignation was a direct response to your employer’s breach of contract. If you wait too long, you may not be able to prove this. It is important that you obtain legal advice before you resign to ensure that you are putting yourself in the best possible position to make a successful claim. We can advise you on the merits and risks of resigning before you do it, including advising you on the potential value of any potential claim. We will also advise you as to whether or not you should first raise a formal grievance, or whether to work your notice or leave immediately (these factors will all be taken into account by a Tribunal should it proceed that far) and we can help you to draft your resignation letter – which will be a key document in any subsequent claim.
Generally, employees are only eligible to claim unfair or constructive dismissal if they have a minimum of two years’ continuous service. However, there are many exceptions to this rule, such as if there is a discriminatory reason behind the dismissal, or if the dismissal can be shown to be ‘automatically unfair’. Deciding whether you are eligible to claim unfair/constructive dismissal is not always straightforward, and we would recommend that you seek legal advice if you are unsure.
A wrongful dismissal claim is essentially a claim for damages where your employer has breached its contractual obligations. The most usual type of wrongful dismissal claim arises where an employee has been dismissed immediately for gross misconduct and the employee has not been given the opportunity to work their notice or receive a payment in lieu of notice. In some cases, the wrongful dismissal has the consequence of employees missing out on other benefits that would have accrued during their notice period, this might include bonuses or share options.
In most circumstances, a claim for wrongful dismissal will be pursued through the employment tribunal, but in some circumstances we may advise you to claim compensation in the civil courts instead.
There are very strict time limits for making claims in the employment tribunal. In most cases, you have three months minus one day to submit your claim to a tribunal. The clock usually starts running from the date the problem at work happened. In the case of unfair, constructive and wrongful dismissals, this time limit starts from the last day of your employment. Because of the very short time limits involved in employment claims, it is important that you seek advice as soon as possible.
We understand that costs can be a considerable concern for our clients, which is why we offer transparent and flexible fee options including fixed fee and hourly rate options.
It is important to understand that not all unfair or wrongful dismissal claims proceed all the way to the Employment Tribunal. In many cases, particularly with the help of experienced employment lawyers, the parties settle before incurring significant costs or time. Early advice from us will improve your chances of reaching a favourable settlement.
As a general rule, your legal costs are not recoverable in the Employment Tribunal, which means that parties usually pay for their own legal costs. We have set out our typical charges for running a case to a full hearing below.
We tailor our support to your circumstances and requirements. The charges can vary in a number of ways dependent upon factors such as:
As a result, our charges will need to take these aspects into account. Note also that, if you have employment claims’ cover (for example, as an ‘add-on’ to your household insurance), then you may be able to recover these costs from your insurer.
Our fees for a wrongful or unfair dismissal claim, taken all the way through to a final hearing and covering the key stages outlined below, start from £6,000 (7,200 inc VAT).This assumes the most simple and straightforward unfair dismissal claim involving, amongst other things, simple facts and minimal documentary evidence, no more than one witness for either party, no preliminary hearings or applications and minimal communications with your employer.
Typically wrongful or unfair dismissal claims can involve significant documentary evidence, several witnesses and challenges from the other party. As a guide, our fees, on average, for a wrongful or unfair dismissal claim, taken all the way to a final hearing and covering the key stages outlined below, are £14,700 (£17,640 inc VAT). These fees are based on the following hourly rates: partner-level solicitor £396 inc VAT; solicitor £234 - £300 inc VAT depending on complexity and urgency of the matter; trainee solicitor £132 inc VAT. Higher hourly rates may apply in cases where our advice is being sought at short notice and we need to prioritise and resource accordingly.
None of the figures above take into account unfair dismissal claims which are accompanied by other more complex claims such as the following (non-exhaustive) examples:-
In cases involving other complex issues, we will provide a quotation for the work bespoke to your particular circumstances.
The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:
The stages set out above are an indication and if some of stages above are not required, the fee will be reduced. You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can also be arranged having regard to your individual needs and budget.
Our fees do not include Counsel's fees for representing you at a hearing which are estimated between £1,200 (inc VAT) per day and £4,800 (inc VAT) per day (depending on the seniority of the barrister).
Other charges which may apply in more unusual situations:
Your matter will predominantly be looked after by a qualified, regulated solicitor who focuses exclusively on employment law and the majority of the work will be undertaken by them directly. From time to time, they may delegate certain aspects of the work, under their supervision, to a trainee solicitor. Click on the 'Meet the team' button on this page for more details about our employment law advisers.
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