Automatic unfair dismissal
Plain-English definitions for England and Wales. General information, not legal advice. Laws and figures change - always check the current position on GOV.UK.
Automatic unfair dismissal Dismissals for certain prohibited reasons - such as pregnancy, whistleblowing, trade union activity, health and safety activities, or asserting a statutory right - that the law treats as unfair regardless of process. These have no qualifying period, so they apply from day one. A few categories (notably whistleblowing and health and safety dismissals) carry uncapped compensation; the rest are subject to the ordinary compensatory award cap.
Related terms
- Unfair dismissal
- A statutory claim that an employer ended your employment without a fair reason, without a fair process, or both. Most employees currently need 2 years' continuous service to claim ordinary unfair dismissal, though many 'automatically unfair' reasons need no qualifying period.
- Whistleblowing (protected disclosure)
- Where a worker reports certain wrongdoing in the public interest - a 'qualifying disclosure', such as a criminal offence, a breach of a legal obligation, or a danger to health and safety. Workers are protected from dismissal or detriment for making a protected disclosure, with no qualifying period and uncapped compensation for dismissal.
- Compensatory award
- The part of unfair dismissal compensation that reflects your actual financial loss from the dismissal - mainly lost earnings and benefits, and subject to your duty to mitigate. It is normally capped (see statutory cap), though discrimination and whistleblowing awards are not.
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