Although a natural part of employment, terminating an employee’s contract is often awkward and contentious. This can come about a number of ways. Employees may terminate their contract by resigning, and an employer may terminate the contract by dismissing an employee.
Make sure you remain compliant with UK laws by using this termination of employment letter.
This formal notification of dismissal covers the reason for dismissals, such as:
Poor conduct
Poor performance
The date the employment ends
Arrangements about holiday and salary
The right to appeal against dismissal,
Return of the employer's property and information.
It also allows for payment in lieu of notice (PILON).
For more business templates like this, check out our Template Library.
The Employment Law for Termination of an Employment Contract
Under the all contracts of employment must state the length of the minimum notice period that the employee must give and receive to terminate the contract. If the employee chooses to end it, then it is terminated by mutual consent and in theory, they will not have a claim against you.
If you wish to fire an employee or end an employment contract yourself, you can do this at any time. If not done properly, this could lead to a number of defending claims from the employee. These include:
Wrongful dismissal: or failure to provide sufficient notice
Discrimination: In the event the termination is based on employees
Unfair dismissal: Only able to be claimed if they have worked for you over two years.
The ERA identifies a number of potentially fair reasons for dismissal, under section 98. These reasons may allow you to dismiss an employee without a . These are:
Conduct/gross misconduct - harassment, damage to company property, etc.
Competency - the capability to do the job or lack of qualifications
Redundancy - when you need to reduce the workforce
Breach of a statutory restriction - an employee's right to work in the UK may expire or they may lose a license that made it legal for them to carry out a role
Some other substantial reason (SOSR) - a reason to use when none of the other potentially fair reasons applies, e.g. personality clashes in the office. It can’t be something insignificant or trivial
