If your employer refuses your request for dependant leave, or if you’re disciplined or dismissed for taking it, you can bring a claim to the Employment Tribunal. You are legally entitled to take time off in such situations.

A fair procedure usually includes investigation, warnings, a meeting, the chance to respond, and the right to appeal. Skipping these steps can make a dismissal unfair.

Put simply, a grievance is a complaint. If you are having a problem at work (for example, you are unhappy with something you have been asked to do as part of your job), you are concerned about an issue that has arisen at work (for example, the terms of your contract of employment have been changed) or you wish to make a complaint about a colleague or a manager (for example, you feel you are being bullied by a colleague or a manager) then you can raise a “grievance”.

Raising a grievance is putting your problem, concern or complaint to your employer informally at first (by perhaps having a private word) or if that fails, more formally, perhaps in writing which will allow them to investigate and hopefully resolve your complaint.

One of the nine features , eg sex , race , disability , age , sexual orientation , religious belief, transgender reassignment , marital status and pregnancy.

The concept of a protected conversation was introduced in 2013 enabling an employer to enter into discussions (“out of the blue”) with an employee with a view to terminating their employment under a settlement agreement, without the parties being able to rely on the details of the conversation as evidence in an unfair dismissal claim. The purpose of the legislation is to enable employers to facilitate the exit of underperforming staff without the necessity of going through a lengthy formal performance management process which can be stressful for both parties.

Settlement agreements are legal contracts between an employer and an employee (or former employee to terminate the contract of employment. We often see settlement agreements in the following circumstances:

Performance review
Disciplinary process
Redundancy

The agreement usually contains provisions for the following:

Payment in lieu of notice (unless the employer wants you to work your notice);
A sum equivalent to any accrued, unused holiday

Any payment in lieu of notice and holiday pay with be subject to your usual tax and national insurance deductions.

Depending on the circumstances, sometimes there may be an ex-gratia (one-off) payment. This is often referred to as the termination payment and ideally should be an incentivised sum of money to sign the agreement. This sum is tax free up to £30,000.

Treating someone unfairly because of their age in recruitment, promotion, training, or dismissal.

It’s a certificate issued when Early Conciliation ends. You’ll need the certificate number to submit an Employment Tribunal claim if your case doesn’t settle.

Bullying includes repeated, unreasonable behaviour that creates a risk to health and safety, undermines your confidence, or isolates you from work.

Constructive dismissal is when you resign because your employer has seriously breached your employment contract. The law treats this as a dismissal caused by the employer.

Constructive Dismissal is where your employer has acted in such a way towards you that it breaches your contract and allows you to leave your job and treat yourself as dismissed. Whilst your employer has not actually fired you, they may have forced your employment to come to an end by their behaviour. If the contract has been brought to an end, you will not be required to work your notice. An example of this would be where your employer persistently bullies you and forces you to leave the job. A Constructive Dismissal Claim may either be brought about by one particular incident or it may be a series of incidents culminating in a ’last straw’.

Remember, Constructive Dismissal is not always easy to prove and it is important you consider your position very carefully before leaving your job. To prove Constructive Dismissal you need to show that your employer’s actions were sufficiently serious to allow you to leave your job. It is not necessarily enough that you consider that your employer has acted unreasonably.

A claim for Constructive Dismissal must be submitted to an Employment Tribunal within three months less a day of the date of your resignation.

You should generally try and raise a grievance with your employer before resigning to give them the opportunity of trying to resolve the problem. A failure to do this could reduce any compensation that you recover by up to 25%.

To have a Constructive Dismissal claim, you need to consider:

Have you been employed for 2 years?
Has your employer broken an express term of your contract?
Has your employer acted in a way calculated or likely to break down your relationship of mutual trust and confidence?

Dependant leave is time off work that you are entitled to when you need to care for a dependant, like a child, partner, or parent, during an emergency. It’s an unpaid leave granted under the Employment Rights Act 1996 .

If your employer is concerned or unhappy about your work, they may look to take disciplinary action against you. Examples of possible concerns include: the standard of your work, your behaviour at work and your level of absence from work.

Your employer is not obliged to discuss matters with you informally. Instead, they may decide to take disciplinary action formally, especially if the matter is serious.

If your employer decides to take disciplinary action, they should set out in a letter the alleged misconduct or poor performance and the possible consequences you may face.

Discrimination can be either direct or indirect.

The concept of direct discrimination, victimisation and harassment applies to discrimination related to gender, being married or having a civil partner, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, age and disability.

You are eligible to make a claim for discrimination if you are a job applicant, apprentice, employee, former employee, contract worker, or working on a contract personally to execute work.

There is no minimum length of service required.

To be successful in a claim for Direct Discrimination, you must be able to show that:

You received less favourable treatment because of a protected characteristic, for example, race or age, etc.
The treatment was different to others. It is not enough to be simply unfair treatment, you have to show that the treatment was a result of one of the factors noted above.
You have a comparator. It is useful (but not essential) to find a real-life comparator.

Indirect discrimination is where your employer has applied a provision/criteria or practice which disadvantages you and which would tend to disadvantage others of your race, sex, age, etc. It is not unlawful if your employer can justify the provision or practice by showing that it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

In the vast majority of cases, before you can proceed to lodge a claim with the Employment Tribunal, you must notify ACAS of your intention to do so. ACAS will then offer the opportunity to use Early Conciliation. This is a process designed to enable the parties to settle their workplace dispute without going to tribunal. Reaching a settlement through conciliation is quicker, cheaper and less stressful for all concerned than a tribunal hearing.

The process involves submitting a form (Early Conciliation Notification Form) which is a very simple process by which you confirm the brief details of the dispute and the name of the employer. ACAS will then contact you to go through the information provided and explain the process. They will then contact your employer to see if they wish to engage in conciliation. If the matter is resolved, ACAS will deal with the necessary forms for you to sign. If the matter is not resolved, ACAS will then issue a certificate which then allows you to lodge a claim in the Employment Tribunal.

Employment discrimination is when you are treated worse at work because of a protected characteristic, such as age, race, disability, or sex. This can happen during recruitment, employment, or after you have left a job.

Serious misconduct eg theft , fighting , fraud, refusing to carry out an instruction.

It is compensation for the distress, humiliation, or upset caused by discrimination at work, in addition to any financial losses.

Judicial mediation is a voluntary process in employment tribunals where an independent judge helps both parties, employees and employers, reach a fair settlement before a final hearing. It’s designed to save time and costs, and if successful, the outcome is legally binding.

You normally have three months less one day from your last day of employment to start ACAS Early Conciliation.

Unfair Dismissal occurs when your employer dismisses you for an unfair reason and/or they do not follow the correct procedure for the dismissal.

A Claim for Unfair Dismissal must be submitted to an Employment Tribunal within three months less one day from the effective date of termination of the employment (usually the date of leaving the job).

Your dismissal may be deemed as “fair” if it was for one of the following reasons:

Conduct
Capability or qualifications for the job
Redundancy
Illegality
Some other substantial reason of a kind which justifies your dismissal

If your Employer is going to dismiss you they should:

Advise you that they are commencing a procedure that may culminate in your dismissal
Invite you to a meeting and inform you of their decision
Allow you the right to appeal your dismissal

To have an Unfair Dismissal claim, you need to consider:

Have you been employed for 2 years? If not, you cannot make a claim for Unfair Dismissal unless one of the statutory exceptions applies.
Was there a fair reason for your dismissal?
Was it reasonable for your employer to dismiss you?
Was a fair procedure followed?

Voluntary redundancy is when you choose to leave your job in exchange for a financial package offered by your employer. Unlike compulsory redundancy, where your employer selects who stays or goes, voluntary redundancy gives you the option to apply for redundancy voluntarily, often with enhanced financial benefits. Employers may offer this option to reduce staff numbers without the need for formal redundancy selection processes.

Wrongful Dismissal occurs when your employer breaches the terms of your employment contract by dismissing you. For example, by not giving you the required notice period. Your employer may be entitled to dismiss you without notice if they can show that the reason for your dismissal was gross misconduct.

You can issue such proceedings in an Employment Tribunal. However there is a cap on the amount of compensation that can be recovered; currently this is £25,000. Therefore it may be better to bring a civil claim in the County Courts for breach of contract, depending on the size of your claim. Please note that if you are bringing proceedings in the County Court, there will be a court fee to pay and this will be dependent on the size of your claim.

A dismissal may be unfair if there is no valid reason, the process is rushed or biased, or you are not given a chance to defend yourself.