Your dismissal letter must say why you were sacked, not only that you can appeal.
“EATStands for Employment Appeal Tribunal. It hears appeals from employment tribunal decisions on points of law, not on the facts. It is not a way of simply asking for a second opinion on the outcome. found the shortened dismissal procedure did not apply and had not been properly followed anyway.”
Your employer must properly investigate and clearly explain why you are being dismissed.
- Check your dismissal letter for a clear, specific reason. If it only refers to your right to appeal, ask your employer directly to confirm the reason in writing.
- Ask what investigation took place before the decision was made. A decision reached without anyone properly looking into the facts is harder for an employer to defend.
- If you think the process was rushed or the reasoning was never explained to you, get advice quickly. You normally have three monthsThe standard time limit for bringing most employment tribunal claims, running from the date of the act complained of. Because the limit is three months less one day, you should not wait until what fee... less one day from your dismissal date to bring an unfair dismissalA legal claim you can bring if your employer dismissed you without a fair reason or without following a fair process. You normally need two years of continuous employment to qualify, though some dismi... claim.
The situation
An employee swore at his line manager during a workplace exchange. Having discussed the incident with other senior staff that same afternoon, the line manager decided to dismiss him for gross misconductBehaviour serious enough that your employer is entitled to dismiss you immediately without notice. Common examples include theft, violence, or serious dishonesty, but what counts depends on your emplo.... He was left in the dark about it overnight; nobody told him until the following morning. The employer used a shortened, fast-track version of the dismissal process rather than the full one. The dismissal letter set out his right to appeal. It never said what he was actually being dismissed for.
What the tribunal found
The Employment Appeal Tribunal found that the employer should not have used the shortened process. At the time, the law only allowed that shortcut where dismissal happened at the same moment the employer learned of the misconduct, or immediately after (Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004, reg 3). A decision confirmed the next day did not qualify. On top of that, the EAT found the employer had not even followed the shortened process properly: there had been no real investigation, and the dismissal letter did not set out the reason for dismissal. The case was sent back for a fresh tribunal to consider.
O'Neil v Wooldridge Ecotec Ltd, UKEAT/0282/07, Employment Appeal Tribunal, decided 2007.