All an Employer Needs to Know About Summary Dismissal in England 

As an employer, there will be times when you need to terminate your staff’s employment contract through a dismissal. However, you must have a valid reason for any form of dismissal. One valid reason for dismissal is poor conduct, and where this occurs, you may have the option of summary dismissal. You must, however, understand the rules concerning summary dismissal to know when to consider it as an option and to ensure you carry out summary dismissal correctly. Otherwise, you could find that you face an employment tribunal for unfair or wrongful dismissal. This article will explain what you, as an employer, need to know about summary dismissal. It will explain what summary dismissal means and detail some key points you should be aware of regarding summary dismissal.

What is Summary Dismissal?

Summary dismissal is when you dismiss your staff instantly.

Summary dismissal usually occurs due to gross misconduct, where your employee carries out serious wrongdoing regarding their employment with you. The misconduct will breach the implied duty of mutual conference and trust between you and your employee. Furthermore, it will have destroyed your working relationship and caused damage that neither of you can repair. Gross misconduct can be, for example:

• stealing from you;
• carrying out fraud;
• acts of violence; or
• gross negligence.

Key Points an Employer Needs to Know About Summary Dismissal

Below is a list of some critical information about summary dismissal or associated with it that you as an employer should know. It is not an exhaustive list in no particular order, but it provides some vital information.

1. Check the Employment Contract

You can only summarily dismiss your staff if the employment contract states it is possible. Where it does not state that summary dismissal is possible, you may have the option of suspending your employee but on full pay to investigate the situation, which may then warrant dismissal. If you summarily dismiss your employee and their employment contract does not allow for this, an employment tribunal could find the summary dismissal as ‘procedurally unfair’. 

2. Follow a Fair Procedure

If you decide to summary dismiss the employee, you must follow a full and fair procedure, as you have to for all disciplinary situations. This should be your disciplinary and grievance procedure. The procedure should be in line with the Acas procedure, meaning that you must investigate and hold a disciplinary hearing allowing your employee a chance to defend themselves. Therefore, although theoretically, summary dismissal means instant dismissal, it follows only after carrying out a proper procedure. You must follow a fair and full procedure if you carry out summary dismissal, as this is a requirement for checking you do not dismiss them unfairly.

3. Considering Suspension?

When carrying out a full and fair disciplinary procedure on a staff member and considering summary dismissal, you may find it necessary to suspend them. You should choose this option with caution. Furthermore, if you suspend your employee, they must receive full pay unless their employment contract states otherwise.

4. Pay and Benefits Due

Whilst summary dismissal means that you do not have to give your employees payment in lieu of notice, you must provide them with other pay and benefits due to them. For example, you should make sure that you give them:

• pay for any holiday not yet used;
• pay for any work carried out that they have not received yet; and
• expenses they may be owed.

5. Summary Dismissal Letter

The law requires you to issue a summary dismissal letter. Your employee’s summary dismissal letter should contain specific points of information. These can help demonstrate that you have a valid reason for dismissal and have followed a fair procedure.

Key Takeaways

Dismissing an employee has severe consequences for your employee. Therefore, the law requires a valid reason for dismissal and for you to follow a full and fair procedure, such as your disciplinary and grievance procedure. This applies to summary dismissal too. You may consider suspending your employee with full pay during the investigation period. When carrying out a summary dismissal, you must provide your employee with a summary dismissal letter containing specific information such as the reason for dismissal and that you are carrying it out summarily and what this means. 

If you need help understanding summary dismissal in England and Wales, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. So call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.

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