In This Guide
What Is Unfair Dismissal?
Unfair dismissal occurs when your employer terminates your employment either without a fair reason or without following a fair procedure, or both. It is governed by Part X of the Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended by the Employment Rights Act 2025.
A dismissal can be unfair even if the employer had a legitimate reason to dismiss you, if they didn't follow proper process. This includes failing to investigate allegations properly, not giving you a chance to respond, not considering alternatives to dismissal, or not allowing an appeal.
Unfair dismissal is the most common tribunal claim type, making up 23.7% of all employment tribunal claims. Combined with other dismissal-related claims (constructive dismissal, wrongful dismissal), dismissal disputes represent the single largest category of employment tribunal work.
Dismissal vs. Resignation
If you resigned because your employer made your position untenable, you may have a constructive dismissal claim. The legal test (from Western Excavating v Sharp [1978]) requires you to show a fundamental breach of contract. Belonge's assessment covers this scenario too.
The 5 Fair Reasons for Dismissal
Under Section 98 of the ERA 1996, an employer must show the reason for dismissal falls within one of five categories. Even then, the dismissal must be reasonable in all the circumstances:
Capability or Qualifications
The employee can't do the job to the required standard, for example persistent poor performance despite support, or lacks a required qualification. The employer must show they gave adequate warnings, support, and time to improve.
Conduct
Misconduct such as persistent lateness or insubordination, or gross misconduct such as theft, violence, or fraud. Even for gross misconduct, the employer must investigate and hold a disciplinary hearing before dismissing.
Redundancy
The role genuinely no longer exists, or the business is closing or relocating. The employer must follow a fair selection process, consult with affected employees, and consider suitable alternative employment.
Statutory Restriction
Continuing to employ you would break the law. For example, a delivery driver who loses their driving licence, or a worker whose visa has expired.
Some Other Substantial Reason (SOSR)
A catch all category for legitimate reasons that don't fit the above. Examples include a fundamental breakdown in trust, refusal to accept reasonable changes to terms and conditions, or third party pressure to dismiss.
The "Band of Reasonable Responses" Test
The tribunal doesn't ask whether it would have dismissed you. It asks whether dismissal fell within the "band of reasonable responses" available to a reasonable employer (Iceland Frozen Foods v Jones [1982]). This means an employer can sometimes fairly dismiss even where another employer might not have.
How Belonge Analyses Your Dismissal
Belonge's AI assessment examines your dismissal against all five fair reasons:
Automatically Unfair Dismissal (Day One Rights)
Some dismissals are automatically unfair regardless of your length of service. The government factsheet confirms: "The Employment Rights Act 2025 does not change the current existing day one protections against discrimination and automatically unfair grounds for dismissal."
If you were dismissed for any of the following reasons, you can claim from day one — no qualifying period needed:
ERA 1996, s.99
ERA 1996, s.103A
ERA 1996, s.104
ERA 1996, s.100
ERA 1996, s.98B
TULRCA 1992, s.152
ERA 1996, s.104C
Schedule 3, ERA 2025
Additionally, all discrimination claims under the Equality Act 2010 are day one rights. If your dismissal was because of a protected characteristic such as age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation, you do not need any qualifying service. Compensation for discrimination is uncapped.
Minimum Basic Award for Auto-Unfair Dismissals
For automatically unfair dismissals related to health & safety, employee representative, trade union, or pension trustee reasons, there is a minimum basic award of £9,157 (from 6 April 2026, previously £8,763). This is guaranteed regardless of your length of service.
"My employer said I couldn't claim because I'd only been there 4 months. Belonge identified it as a whistleblowing dismissal, a day one right. I contacted ACAS the same day."
Tom, Bristol
Whistleblowing dismissal
Not Sure If Your Dismissal Was Fair?
Most people don't know whether they qualify. Belonge's AI assessment takes 5 minutes and checks every possible claim type, including day one rights you might not know about.
Qualifying Period: From 2 Years to 6 Months
Section 25 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 reduces the qualifying period for "ordinary" unfair dismissal from two years to six months. This will take effect on 1 January 2027.
Current Law (Until 31 Dec 2026)
2 years' continuous service required for ordinary unfair dismissal
Affects approximately 6.3 million workers (22% of employed 16+) who currently have limited protection
New Law (From 1 Jan 2027)
6 months' continuous service — protection for millions more workers
Around 40% of businesses already operate ≤6 month probation periods. The right to written reasons for dismissal also drops to 6 months
The Act also removes the power to vary the qualifying period without primary legislation. Future governments cannot simply extend it back via statutory instrument.
Compensation: Complete Breakdown (2026/27 Figures)
From 6 April 2026 (SI 2026/310). Used for basic award calculation
20 years × 1.5 weeks × £751 (for employee aged 41+ with 20+ years' service)
Cap effective 6 April 2026 (or 52 weeks' gross pay, whichever is lower). ERA 2025 proposes removing s124 entirely so awards reflect actual loss suffered.
From 646 compensation awards made at tribunal. Few reached the cap in practice
Guaranteed for health & safety, union, employee rep, and pension trustee dismissals (from 6 April 2026)
Injury to Feelings (Vento Bands — Discrimination Cases)
Less serious one off incidents
Most discrimination claims fall here
Most serious cases (e.g., prolonged campaign of harassment)
Step by Step: Making Your Unfair Dismissal Claim
Document Everything
OngoingRecord what happened with dates, times, exact words used, and witnesses. Save emails, letters, and messages. The sooner you start, the stronger your evidence.
Check Your Eligibility
5 minutesConfirm your employment status, service length, and whether any day one protections apply. Belonge's free assessment does this automatically.
Contact ACAS (Mandatory)
Up to 6 weeksYou MUST contact ACAS for Early Conciliation before you can submit a tribunal claim. ACAS will try to broker a settlement. This step pauses your deadline clock.
Submit ET1 Claim Form
Must meet deadlineIf ACAS conciliation fails, file your ET1 at the employment tribunal. Include your ACAS certificate number, detailed grounds, and compensation sought.
Employer Response (ET3)
28 daysYour employer has 28 days to file their defence. The tribunal then sets case management directions.
Hearing
1 to 5+ daysPresent your case, examine witnesses, make closing submissions. The tribunal makes its decision, sometimes on the day, sometimes reserved for later.
Manual Prep vs. Belonge Prep
Manual Process
- •Scattered emails across folders
- •Notes in different places (phone, notebook, Google Docs)
- •Trying to remember dates months later
- •Googling 'what evidence do I need for tribunal'
- •Re-reading all emails to find key ones
- •Manually typing timeline into Word
- •Forgetting witnesses' contact details
Average time: 25 to 40 hours
Risk: Missing critical evidence
Belonge Process
- One place for everything (cloud-based, accessible anywhere)
- Evidence tracker with automatic timeline
- Upload emails/docs once, tag and search later
- AI tells you what evidence you need
- Auto-generates timeline in ET1 format
- Witness contact tracking built-in
- Reminders to document incidents as they happen
Average time: 10 to 15 hours (60% savings)
More organized = stronger case
Belonge Guides You Through Every Step
From assessment to tribunal, Belonge's workspace provides:
Workspace users save an average of 15 hours vs. manual preparation.
Critical Deadlines You Must Not Miss
Tribunal time limit
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. If you were dismissed on 15 February 2026, your deadline to contact ACAS is 14 May 2026.
Pauses the clock for up to 6 weeks. The deadline for filing your ET1 is extended by the ACAS period
After receiving your ACAS certificate, you typically have 1 month to file your ET1 claim
The tribunal can extend time if it was "not reasonably practicable" to claim in time — but this is a high bar. Don't rely on it
Never Miss a Deadline with Belonge
Belonge automatically tracks every critical date:
"I didn't know about the tribunal deadline until Belonge flagged I had 11 days left. I contacted ACAS that afternoon. Without Belonge I would have lost my claim."
Angela, Liverpool
Unfair dismissal, settled at ACAS for £14,000
Frequently Asked Questions
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