Employment tribunals must address three questions when faced with an unfair dismissal claim: Is the claimant entitled in law to pursue his/her claim? Was the main reason for the dismissal potentially lawful? Did the employer act reasonably in carrying out the dismissal? This chapter begins by distinguishing between three different types of dismissal claims that are brought to employment tribunals: unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal and constructive dismissal. It goes on to discuss the first two of the three questions. It describes the four possible outcomes when a claimant wins an unfair dismissal case: reinstatement, re-engagement, compensation and a declaration that a dismissal was unfair. In practice, compensation is by far the most common outcome. The chapter then considers debates on remedies in unfair dismissal cases.
