subject: How serious does a breach of contract need to be to make a wrongful dismissal claim? [print this page] How serious does a breach of contract need to be to make a wrongful dismissal claim?
You also have a number of statutory rights that include minimum periods of notice. If your employer breaks the terms of your contract, you could have grounds for wrongful dismissal.
Under current employment law, wrongful dismissal occurs when your employer breaks any of the terms of your employment. As soon as you have accepted any job offer the terms of the employment contract are legally binding on all parties. If your contract is breached, the seriousness of the breach is your best indication whether you have a case for compensation if your claim were to be heard by an employment tribunal.
It is important to ensure you understand all the terms of your employment contract. It may be illegal to terminate your employment without notice under employment law, but if your contract stipulates that this is allowed, this would not be deemed a breach of contract under normal employment law conditions.
Generally speaking, breach of contract always occurs if you are dismissed without any notice. However, in cases of gross misconduct it is unlikely that an employment tribunal will rule in your favour. And employees that have worked for their employers for less than a year may not be successful in any claim of wrong dismissal they make to an employment tribunal.
As employment law integrates closely with contract law, it is important to fully understand your contract of employment before making any claims of wrongful dismissal. An employment law solicitor is vital in this respect to ensure you have solid grounds for any claim you would like to subsequently make for damages.
Wrongful dismissal occurs when your employer breaks the terms of your contract of employment. The ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) have a Code of Practice that all employers should comply with. This includes using the proper procedure to dismiss their employees.
One of the most common forms of wrongful dismissal is not being given proper notice by your employer before they terminate your contract. In these cases, your employer should have followed the Code and given you whatever statutory or contractual notice is stated in your contract of employment. If you employer fails to do this, you could have a case of wrongful dismissal to take to an employment law tribunal.
Initially however, you should approach your employer about your concerns regarding your alleged wrongful dismissal. Your company should have a grievance and/or complaints process you can use. It is important to use these procedures first, as an employment tribunal will want to see that you tried all other channels to resolve your issue before you brought the case before them.
As wrongful dismissal can mean a breach of contract has taken place, you should contact an employment law solicitor as soon as you can. Your solicitor can assess your particular circumstances and indicated whether a breach of contract and therefore wrongful dismissal has actually taken place.
It isn't difficult to make a claim of wrongful dismissal, but you must ensure that wrongful dismissal actually took place before making a formal complaint to your employer and possibly later to an employment tribunal. Your employer must treat your fairly and in accordance with employment regulations when dismissing you.
Contracts of employment can contain highly complex legal material. An employment law solicitor can interpret your contract and relate this to the incident that led to your dismissal. If these grounds break employment law, and your employer has not fulfilled their responsibilities to investigate your claim of wrongful dismissal, you can then move to an employment tribunal.
