Employee dismissal rights

Employers must give all employees, except for employees under contract of three months or less, a minimum period of notice irrespective of the hours they work. This period is determined by the length of service:

For one month's service: no entitlement
For one month to less than two years: one week’s entitlement
For two years: two weeks' entitlement
For three years: three weeks' entitlement

And so on, to a maximum of twelve weeks for twelve years service or more.

Valid reason for dismissal

Legislation lists a number of reasons which can constitute a valid reason for dismissal:

Conduct (including gross misconduct) – The employee’s conduct or behaviour falls below the acceptable standard required.
Capability - The employee is no longer capable of doing the job for reasons which are due to a medical condition or long-term sickness, or the employee does not have the requisite skills to undertake the role to a reasonable standard.
Redundancy – There is no longer a need for the job role and it is therefore, made redundant.
Retirement - The employee has reached retirement age (the default retirement age is currently 65).
Statutory restriction - The employee can no longer carry out his/her job for legal reasons (for example, a driver who has been disqualified from driving).
Some Other Substantial Reason – The reason for the dismissal is for another 'substantial' reason that does not fall under the previous categories, for example, an irresolvable personality clash.

Note: A dismissal will also take place when a fixed-term contract expires and is not renewed, though this in itself may not constitute a valid reason for dismissal.

Reasonable behaviour

An employer must act reasonably in all the circumstances in treating the reason for dismissing the employee as a sufficient reason for the dismissal. In other cases, an employer’s actions may give rise to: