Can I Be Dismissed for Raising a Grievance?

Your employer must not dismiss you because your grievance complained of discrimination, disclosed wrongdoing in the public interest or alleged a breach of your statutory rights. Each of these makes the dismissal unlawful from your first day at work. Outside these three cases, your claim depends on ordinary unfair dismissal, which needs a qualifying period of service.

A grievance about discrimination

Section 27 of the Equality Act 2010 makes victimisation unlawful. A grievance alleging that you or a colleague was treated badly because of a protected characteristic, such as race, sex, disability, religion or pregnancy, is a protected act. Section 39 of the Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful for an employer to dismiss an employee by way of victimisation.

The grievance does not need to quote the Act or use the word discrimination. The allegation must be clear from what you wrote. You are covered even if the allegation is later found to be wrong, provided you made it in good faith. A false allegation made in bad faith is not covered. Victimisation claims need no qualifying service.

A warehouse supervisor with ten months' service raises a written grievance stating that her manager gives the overtime shifts to white colleagues and passes her over because she is Black. Two weeks later she is dismissed for "attitude". She cannot claim ordinary unfair dismissal, but she can bring a victimisation claim under section 27 of the Equality Act 2010 and a race discrimination claim, because neither needs qualifying service.

A grievance that blows the whistle

A grievance is a whistleblowing complaint only where it is a protected disclosure. Section 43B of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires a disclosure of information which you reasonably believe is made in the public interest and tends to show wrongdoing, such as a criminal offence, a breach of a legal obligation, a danger to health and safety or a cover up of any of these.

A complaint about your pay, your workload or how your manager speaks to you is usually a personal grievance. GOV.UK states that personal grievances are not covered by whistleblowing law unless the case is in the public interest.

Where the grievance is a protected disclosure, section 103A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 makes a dismissal automatically unfair if the disclosure is the reason, or the principal reason, for it. No qualifying service is needed.

A grievance that asserts a statutory right

Section 104 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 makes a dismissal automatically unfair where the reason is that you alleged your employer had breached a relevant statutory right. Examples include a complaint about unpaid holiday under the Working Time Regulations 1998 or an unlawful deduction from your wages.

You do not need to be right about the breach. You must make the claim in good faith and make it reasonably clear which right you believe was breached. No qualifying service is needed.

When none of these applies

A grievance about a personality clash, a rota or a missed promotion with no link to discrimination may fall outside all three. Your claim is then ordinary unfair dismissal under section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. For dismissals before 1 January 2027 you need two years' service. The government plans to reduce this to six months for dismissals from 1 January 2027, subject to Parliament.

Your employer must show a fair reason and a fair process. A procedural failure alone does not guarantee compensation. If the tribunal finds you would have been dismissed anyway, compensation can be reduced, even to nothing.

How the ACAS Code applies

The ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures says your employer should hold a meeting without unreasonable delay, allow you to be accompanied, give you a decision and offer an appeal. Section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 gives you the right to bring a colleague or trade union representative to the grievance meeting.

Breach of the Code does not create a separate claim. Section 207A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 allows a tribunal to adjust an award by up to 25% where either side unreasonably fails to follow the Code.

Time limits

Acas states that time limits for employment tribunal claims increased from 3 months to 6 months on 1 October 2026. The 3 month limit may still apply to problems that started before 1 October 2026. Check your deadline early and seek advice. Early Conciliation must begin before you can file a tribunal claim.

What to do next

1. Keep a copy of your grievance, the date you sent it and any reply.
2. Write down every change in treatment after the grievance, with dates and names.
3. Request the reason for your dismissal in writing.
4. Appeal the dismissal within the deadline your employer gives.
5. Note the date of dismissal and work out your tribunal deadline.
6. Start ACAS Early Conciliation well before that deadline.

Keep the grievance and the dismissal letter with the records of what happened after you complained.

Frances N.U