Unfair Dismissal: Your Rights and How to Claim

Data last checked on 7 October 2026.

Checked against legislation.gov.uk, Acas and GOV.UK. Edited by Steven Butler.

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You can claim unfair dismissal if you are an employee and your employer had no fair reason to dismiss you, or acted unreasonably in treating that reason as enough. In Great Britain you usually need 2 years' service, falling to 6 months where your employment ends on or after 1 January 2027, though automatically unfair dismissals need none.

Key points

✓The Employment Rights Act 2025 cuts the 2-year qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal to 6 months, in force from 1 January 2027.
✓Your employer must show the reason for dismissal and that it is a reason the Act lists or some other substantial reason, and a tribunal then asks whether the employer acted reasonably.
✓Dismissals that are automatically unfair, such as for whistleblowing, need no qualifying period.
✓For most claims about a problem on or after 1 October 2026 you have 6 months minus 1 day to claim, but 3 months minus 1 day if it happened before then.
✓The compensatory award is capped at the lower of £123,543 or 52 times a week's pay in Great Britain, with exceptions, and the Act removes that cap from 1 January 2027.

The qualifying period

To bring a standard unfair dismissal claim in Great Britain you must have been continuously employed for not less than two years ending with the effective date of termination. The Employment Rights Act 2025 changes that to six months, and commencement regulations made on 26 May 2026 bring the change into force on 1 January 2027. The change applies where your effective date of termination falls on or after 1 January 2027, even if you were dismissed before then, and does not apply where it falls before that date.

Acas says an employee usually has the right to make an unfair dismissal claim if they have the legal status of employee and have worked for their employer for 2 years.

In Northern Ireland an employee needs one year of continuous employment, because the Employment Rights Act 2025 provisions on unfair dismissal extend to England, Wales and Scotland only.

Under 2 years? An employee does not need 2 years' service to claim automatically unfair dismissal. Acas says you can make a discrimination claim regardless of how long you have worked for your employer. A dismissal because of your political opinions or affiliation also does not need the qualifying period. Acas says that depending on the reason for the dismissal, someone dismissed before 2 years may be able to claim automatically unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal.

For notice and wrongful dismissal, see our notice periods guide, and for resigning because of how your employer treated you, see constructive dismissal.

Fair reasons for dismissal

Yes: Capability or qualifications, which covers skill, aptitude, health or any other physical or mental quality
Yes: Conduct: the reason relates to your conduct
Yes: Redundancy: the reason is that you were redundant
Yes: A statutory restriction: you could not continue in the job without breaking a duty or restriction imposed by law, such as a lorry driver losing their driving licence
Yes: Some other substantial reason, such as refusing a reorganisation that changes your terms, or being sent to prison

Even with a reason the Act lists, a tribunal decides whether the employer acted reasonably or unreasonably in treating it as a sufficient reason for dismissing you, taking into account the size and administrative resources of the employer.

GOV.UK says your employer should also have investigated the situation fully before dismissing you, and should be consistent, for example by not dismissing you for something they let other employees do. GOV.UK says redundancy is fair in most cases, but if the reason you were selected for redundancy is unfair you will have been unfairly dismissed.

GOV.UK says you can be dismissed if you have a persistent or long-term illness that makes it impossible for you to do your job, but before acting your employer should look for ways to support you and give you reasonable time to recover. Dismissal because of a disability may be unlawful discrimination.

Automatically unfair dismissal, no qualifying period needed

Acas says some things are automatically unfair if they are the main reason for dismissing an employee, and these include:

Yes: Making a flexible working request
Yes: Being pregnant or on maternity leave
Yes: Wanting to take family leave, for example parental, paternity or adoption leave
Yes: Taking time off for dependants
Yes: Being a trade union member or representative
Yes: Taking part in official industrial action, for example going on strike
Yes: Asking for a legal right, for example to be paid the National Minimum Wage
Yes: Doing jury service
Yes: Whistleblowing
Yes: Taking action, or proposing to take action, over a health and safety issue
Yes: Refusing to comply with a requirement that breaks the Working Time Regulations, or refusing to give up a right they give you, such as rest breaks
Yes: Bringing proceedings under the part-time worker or fixed-term employee regulations, or asking your employer for a written statement under them
Yes: Dismissal and rehire, which Acas says will become an automatically unfair dismissal in most cases from January 2027

If any of these apply, you do not need to meet the qualifying period.

The process: what your employer should have done

Investigation

Employers should carry out necessary investigations without unreasonable delay to establish the facts, and in misconduct cases, where practicable, different people should carry out the investigation and the disciplinary hearing.

Written notice

If there is a case to answer, the employee should be told in writing, with enough information about the alleged misconduct or poor performance and its possible consequences to prepare, and normally with copies of any written evidence.

A meeting

The employee should be allowed to set out their case and answer any allegations, and given a reasonable opportunity to ask questions, present evidence and call relevant witnesses.

The right to be accompanied

Workers have a statutory right to be accompanied by a fellow worker, a trade union representative or an official employed by a trade union where the meeting could result in a formal warning or some other disciplinary action.

Decision and reasons

A decision to dismiss should only be taken by a manager with the authority to do so, and the employee should be told as soon as possible the reasons, the date the contract ends, the notice period and their right of appeal.

Right of appeal

Employees should be allowed to appeal, and the appeal should be dealt with impartially and, wherever possible, by a manager who has not previously been involved in the case; workers have a statutory right to be accompanied at appeal hearings.

If an employer unreasonably fails to comply with the Code, a tribunal may, if it considers it just and equitable, increase any award by no more than 25%, and it may reduce an employee's award by no more than 25% if the employee unreasonably fails to comply.

Time limits: act quickly

For most claims, you have 6 months minus 1 day if the problem happened on or after 1 October 2026, and generally 3 months minus 1 day if it happened before that date. For example, if the problem was on 1 October 2026 you add 6 calendar months and take off 1 day, so your time limit ends at 11:59pm on 31 March 2027.

In most unfair dismissal cases the time limit starts from the last day of your notice period, or the date you were dismissed if your employer did not give you notice. Going through grievance, disciplinary or appeal procedures does not change your time limit. The Employment Rights Act 1996 now says a tribunal shall not consider an unfair dismissal complaint unless it is presented before the end of the period of six months beginning with the effective date of termination, or within a further period it considers reasonable if it was not reasonably practicable to present it in time.

Tell Acas first

You must tell Acas that you are planning to make a claim, and you will be offered the chance to try to settle the dispute through its free early conciliation service.

Early conciliation

Early conciliation can last up to 12 weeks, and when you notify Acas your time limit is paused until it ends, but only if you notify Acas within your time limit.

Make your claim

If early conciliation does not work or you choose not to take part, Acas will send you an early conciliation certificate, and once you receive it you will have at least one month left to make your claim. You will need your Acas early conciliation certificate number to make a claim online, and you do not have to pay a fee to make a claim to an employment tribunal.

If your time limit has passed you can still make a claim, but it is up to the judge to decide whether to accept it, and in most cases time limits are strictly enforced. If you were dismissed for trade union activities, whistleblowing or certain other reasons you may be able to apply for interim relief to continue your paid employment until the case is decided, but you must make your claim within 7 days of being dismissed.

In Northern Ireland, an industrial tribunal will not consider an unfair dismissal complaint presented more than three months after the effective date of termination, unless it was not reasonably practicable to present it in time. The Acas helpline number is 0300 123 1100.

For the next stage, see our guide to the Employment Tribunal, and for dismissal for reasons of disability, sex or race, see discrimination at work.

Compensation, and other remedies for unfair dismissal

If you win, the tribunal must explain what orders for reinstatement or re-engagement can be made and ask whether you want one; if no such order is made it must make an award of compensation. An order for reinstatement is an order that the employer treats you in all respects as if you had not been dismissed, and an order for re-engagement is an order that you are engaged in employment comparable to that from which you were dismissed or other suitable employment.

An award of compensation for unfair dismissal consists of a basic award and a compensatory award.

Basic award

It counts back the years you were employed, up to 20, allowing one and a half weeks' pay for each year you were 41 or older, one week's pay for each year you were 22 or older but under 41, and half a week's pay for each year you were under 22. A week's pay is capped at £751 from 6 April 2026, which makes the maximum basic award £22,530.

Compensatory award

The tribunal awards the amount it considers just and equitable in all the circumstances, having regard to your loss because of the dismissal so far as it is attributable to action taken by the employer, including expenses you reasonably incurred and benefits you might reasonably have expected to have. In Great Britain it cannot exceed the lower of £123,543 or 52 times a week's pay, and in Northern Ireland the limit is £123,785. The limit does not apply where you are regarded as unfairly dismissed because of health and safety activities (section 100) or a protected disclosure (section 103A), or because you were selected for redundancy for those reasons.

The compensatory award limit is due to be removed. The Employment Rights Act 2025 omits section 124, the limit on the compensatory award, with commencement regulations bringing that into force on 1 January 2027. Like the new qualifying period, it applies where your effective date of termination falls on or after that date. The Act's provisions on this extend to England and Wales and Scotland. For the new rules in detail, see our guide to the unfair dismissal changes from January 2027.

Where to go next

Frequently asked questions

How do I make an unfair dismissal claim?

You must tell Acas that you are planning to make a claim, and you will be offered the chance to try to settle the dispute through its free early conciliation service. If early conciliation does not work or you choose not to take part, Acas will send you an early conciliation certificate, and once you receive it you will have at least one month left to make your claim. For most claims, you have 6 months minus 1 day if the problem happened on or after 1 October 2026, and generally 3 months minus 1 day if it happened before that date. The Acas helpline number is 0300 123 1100.

How long do I need to have worked to claim unfair dismissal?

To bring a standard unfair dismissal claim in Great Britain you must have been continuously employed for not less than two years ending with the effective date of termination. The Employment Rights Act 2025 changes that to six months, and commencement regulations made on 26 May 2026 bring the change into force on 1 January 2027. An employee does not need 2 years' service to claim automatically unfair dismissal. In Northern Ireland an employee needs one year of continuous employment, because the Employment Rights Act 2025 provisions on unfair dismissal extend to England, Wales and Scotland only.

Can I claim unfair dismissal if I have worked there for less than 2 years?

An employee does not need 2 years' service to claim automatically unfair dismissal. Acas says you can make a discrimination claim regardless of how long you have worked for your employer. A dismissal because of your political opinions or affiliation also does not need the qualifying period. Acas says that depending on the reason for the dismissal, someone dismissed before 2 years may be able to claim automatically unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal.

What are the fair reasons for dismissal?

Your employer must show the reason, or the principal reason, for the dismissal, and that it is one of the reasons in the Act or some other substantial reason of a kind that justifies dismissing someone in your position. Even with a reason the Act lists, a tribunal decides whether the employer acted reasonably or unreasonably in treating it as a sufficient reason for dismissing you, taking into account the size and administrative resources of the employer.

How much compensation can I get for unfair dismissal?

An award of compensation for unfair dismissal consists of a basic award and a compensatory award. A week's pay is capped at £751 from 6 April 2026, which makes the maximum basic award £22,530. In Great Britain it cannot exceed the lower of £123,543 or 52 times a week's pay, and in Northern Ireland the limit is £123,785.

How long do I have to bring an unfair dismissal claim?

For most claims, you have 6 months minus 1 day if the problem happened on or after 1 October 2026, and generally 3 months minus 1 day if it happened before that date. In most unfair dismissal cases the time limit starts from the last day of your notice period, or the date you were dismissed if your employer did not give you notice. Early conciliation can last up to 12 weeks, and when you notify Acas your time limit is paused until it ends, but only if you notify Acas within your time limit.

What is the Acas Code of Practice?

The Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures is a statutory code issued under section 199 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992; failing to follow it does not in itself make an employer liable to proceedings, but employment tribunals will take it into account. The Code does not apply to dismissals due to redundancy or the non-renewal of fixed-term contracts on their expiry. If an employer unreasonably fails to comply with the Code, a tribunal may, if it considers it just and equitable, increase any award by no more than 25%, and it may reduce an employee's award by no more than 25% if the employee unreasonably fails to comply.

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Know Your Rights UK. "Unfair Dismissal: Your Rights and How to Claim." Know Your Rights UK, https://www.knowyourrightsuk.com/employment/unfair-dismissal