NEW: From 6th April 2012 ex-employees will require 2 years service to make some unfair dismissal claims.

Be aware though that:

(1) This only applies to new employees joining on or after 6th April 2012.

(2) Employees who started on or before 5th April 2012 will still need one year.

(3) Employees dismissed for:

• Becoming pregnant
• Joining a trade union or participating in trade union activities.
• Whistle blowing / raising health and safety concerns.

get protection from Day 1. These are not the only cases so always check with us.

(4) Employees can still make discrimination claims i.e. if dismissed because of their sex, age, race etc. from Day 1.

(5) When calculating an employee’s length of service, you should add on the minimum statutory notice period (one week for employees with less than two years service). This means once an employee has 103 weeks service, they can pursue all unfair dismissal claims.