Claim types

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.

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.

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Related terms

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.
Constructive dismissal: Where you resign in response to a fundamental breach of your employment contract by the employer - conduct serious enough to entitle you to treat the contract as at an end. You generally need to resign promptly and not affirm the breach. It is treated as a dismissal for unfair dismissal purposes.
Wrongful dismissal: A breach-of-contract claim, usually for dismissal without the notice (or notice pay) your contract or statute required. It is different from unfair dismissal: it is about the contractual notice, not the fairness of the dismissal, and it has no qualifying period.
Continuous employment (qualifying period): The length of unbroken service with an employer. Many rights depend on it - for example you currently need 2 years' continuous service for ordinary unfair dismissal and statutory redundancy pay.

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Related terms

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.

Constructive dismissal

Where you resign in response to a fundamental breach of your employment contract by the employer - conduct serious enough to entitle you to treat the contract as at an end. You generally need to resign promptly and not affirm the breach. It is treated as a dismissal for unfair dismissal purposes.

Wrongful dismissal

A breach-of-contract claim, usually for dismissal without the notice (or notice pay) your contract or statute required. It is different from unfair dismissal: it is about the contractual notice, not the fairness of the dismissal, and it has no qualifying period.

Continuous employment (qualifying period)

The length of unbroken service with an employer. Many rights depend on it - for example you currently need 2 years' continuous service for ordinary unfair dismissal and statutory redundancy pay.