If you have been dismissed without notice, without pay in lieu of notice, or without the chance to work the full notice period stated in your contract of employment, you might be able to bring a claim for wrongful dismissal and win compensation.
It’s important to note that wrongful dismissal is not the same as unfair dismissal. Here’s a quick summary of the key differences:
Wrongful dismissal applies when your employer breaks their contract with you when they sack you. As a breach of contract claim, it doesn’t matter how long you have worked there. It’s particularly useful, for example, for a Senior Executive who has an extended notice period but who hasn’t worked there long enough to acquire the right to make an unfair dismissal claim.
Unfair dismissal applies when your employer fails to follow the correct fair and legal procedure when they sack you, or if they sacked you for a legally unfair reason. As such, it is a statutory right rather than a contractual right. To make an unfair dismissal claim, you must have worked there continuously for at least two years in GB or one year in Northern Ireland.
In a wrongful dismissal case, the employment tribunal will only be interested in the contractual obligations of your employer and whether or not they breached them. If your claim is for over £25,000, your case will be heard at the county court or High Court. (By contrast, ALL unfair dismissal claims are heard at the employment tribunal.)
If your employer is found guilty of breaching their contract with you, you will be awarded compensation. The amount you receive is likely to be the value of pay and benefits that you WOULD have earned during your notice period IF your employer had done the right thing and terminated your contract lawfully.
Case study
Mrs J Taylor was a social worker for Tameside Council. In addition to her other duties, she was given responsibility for a residential children’s home.
The local authority was planning to close the home, and, for some time, the only resident was a 17-year-old girl referred to as Child X, whose behaviour was always better on a one-to-one basis.
In 2017, a 12-year-old referred to as Child Y was placed in the home on an emergency basis. At this, Child X’s behavior dipped. Juliette Murphy, the registered manager of the home, invited Child X to spend a night with Juliette for a little holiday in her privately-owned caravan, at no cost to the council.
As Juliette had 30 years ‘experience, and Child X wanted to go, Mrs Taylor agreed to the overnight stay, which was deemed to be a success.
However, Tameside’s head of safeguarding found out, and complained that there hadn’t been a proper risk assessment prior to the trip.
Two days later, Mrs Taylor was suspended. After investigatory meetings, a disciplinary hearing and an unsuccessful appeal, she was dismissed for “gross misconduct”.
She took the council to the employment tribunal.
Judge Katherine Ross found Mrs Taylor had a 25-year unblemished record with Tameside Council, and that she had exercised her professional judgement conscientiously by acting on the advice of the manager and with the child’s best interests in mind.
The judge found that the council had wrongly equated Mrs Taylor’s questionable decision with misconduct, and she won her claims for unfair and wrongful dismissal. The financial award and compensation were reduced by 10% to account for Mrs Taylor’s contributory fault in making a flawed decision.
What this means to you
If your employer broke their contract with you when they dismissed you, you might be able to bring a claim for wrongful dismissal. If you’d like any help or advice, please give us a call.
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