Employment Law: Your Rights If You Are Sacked or Made Redundant

Losing a job is stressful enough without having to navigate complex employment law at the same time. Whether you’ve been sacked or made redundant, you have legal rights – and knowing them can make a significant difference to your outcome.

The difference between dismissal and redundancy

Dismissal is when your employer ends your employment because of something related to you – your conduct, performance, or capability. Redundancy is when your employer ends your employment because the role itself is no longer needed – not because of anything you’ve done wrong.

This distinction matters because the rights and processes are different, and misclassifying a dismissal as a redundancy (or vice versa) is one of the most common employment law disputes.

Unfair dismissal

If you’ve been employed for at least two years, you have the right not to be unfairly dismissed. Your employer must have a fair reason to dismiss you – the legally recognised reasons are:

• Conduct (something you did wrong)
• Capability or performance
• Redundancy
• Illegality (continuing to employ you would break the law)
• Some other substantial reason

Even with a fair reason, the dismissal must also be carried out fairly – following a proper procedure, investigating allegations, giving you a chance to respond, and considering alternatives. A dismissal can be unfair even if the reason was valid, if the procedure was flawed.

If you believe your dismissal was unfair, you can bring a claim to an Employment Tribunal. The time limit is three months minus one day from the date of dismissal – don’t delay.

Wrongful dismissal

Wrongful dismissal is different from unfair dismissal. It means your employer broke your contract – most commonly by dismissing you without proper notice or pay in lieu of notice, regardless of how long you’ve worked there. You can bring a wrongful dismissal claim even in your first year of employment.

Redundancy – what you’re entitled to

Genuine redundancy (where your role is no longer needed) entitles you to:

• Statutory redundancy pay – if you’ve worked for at least two years. The amount depends on your age, length of service, and weekly pay (capped at £643 per week in 2024/25)
• Notice pay – either your contractual notice period or statutory minimum (one week per year of service, up to 12 weeks)
• Time off to look for a new job – you’re entitled to reasonable time off during your notice period
• Consultation – your employer must consult with you before making you redundant. For 20 or more redundancies at once, a formal collective consultation process applies

Is my redundancy genuine?

Redundancy must be genuine – your role must actually be disappearing. Signs that a redundancy may not be genuine (and could constitute unfair dismissal) include:

• Your role is filled by someone else shortly after you leave
• You were selected in a discriminatory way (e.g. because of pregnancy, age, or disability)
• The selection process was arbitrary or there was no proper process
• Your employer failed to consider alternatives such as redeployment

Constructive dismissal

If you resigned because your employer made your working conditions so intolerable that you felt you had no choice but to leave, you may be able to claim constructive dismissal. This requires proving that your employer fundamentally breached your employment contract. These claims can be difficult to bring – get legal advice quickly if you’re in this situation.

When to get legal advice

Get employment legal advice as soon as possible if you’ve been dismissed or made redundant and something doesn’t feel right. The three-month time limit for Employment Tribunal claims is strict – missing it almost always means losing your right to claim, regardless of how strong your case is.

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