Can They Fire Me for This?

“You’re fired.”

As dun as it may be watching Alan Sugar deliver those words on The Apprentice, few of us would like to hear them in real life. For most people, being fired is the ultimate work failure: resulting not only in the abrupt curtailing of your monthly pay cheques, but also the embarrassment of being marched out your office and the stigma received from friends and future interviewers.

Unfortunately, even the best workers can fall foul of nefarious employers. If you find yourself the victim of what you consider an unfair firing, it’s good to know if the law has your back. For Brits, it quite often does. British workers have the right to take their case to an unemployment tribunal and claim unfair dismissal… if they’ve been working at a company longer than two years.

But what exactly is “unfair” in the eyes of the law?

 

Q: Can I Be Fired Without Warning?

A: Yes.

In most instances, businesses must provide the employee with written notice that their employment is being terminated. However, some work behaviour is considered so unprofessional that it is classified as ‘gross misconduct’ and can result in a ‘summary dismissal’ – i.e. instant canning.

Gross misconduct includes acts of violence, fraud, theft and drug use.

 

Q: Can I Be Fired Without Due Process?

A: No.

Even in gross misconduct cases, employers must adhere to both the Acas Code of Practice and their own dismissal procedures. That usually means that they have to inform the fired employee of the reasons they’re being terminated and give them a fair opportunity to respond and/or appeal the decision.

They also need to have thoroughly investigated the allegations that lead to the firing and be confident that they know the facts of the circumstances.

 

Q: Can I Be Fired for Dating a Colleague?

A: No.

60% of UK workers have had an intimate relationship with a colleague, but workplaces differ wildly on their acceptance of office dating. Generally, employers must stick to the rules laid out in their employee handbooks, but outlawing workplace relationships entirely can come into conflict with the Human Rights Act, which entitles everyone to a private life.

Employers must also be careful not to break any discrimination laws. For heterosexual couples, that means they cannot choose to dismiss one-half of the couple because of their gender. For LGBTQ+ relationships, any dismissal cannot be linked to their sexual orientation.

 

Q: Can I Be Fired for Lying on my CV?

A: Yes.

A startling one-third of job seekers admit to having embellished their resume qualifications in order to increase their chances of landing that dream job. But if your employer ever finds out (and they often do), you’re almost certainly toast: lying on your CV is an example of gross misconduct and you can be fired immediately. And yes, that’s still true even if your deception comes to light after years and years of working at the company.

As if that’s not bad enough, lying on your CV can also get you jailed. Misrepresenting your professional qualifications counts as fraud, for which the maximum jail sentence is 10 years. It might seem like a remote threat, but people have been imprisoned over misdemeanours as small as bumping up their grades or pretending to be part of a club they never joined.

 

Q: Can I Be Fired for Asking for Flexitime?

A: No.

Under UK law, requesting flexible working arrangements (remote working, flexitime, job sharing etc.) is a statutory right. That means that if an employer fired you over it, they would automatically be guilty of unfair dismissal.

Of course, the right to ask for flexible working is not the same as the right to receive it.

 

Q: Can I Be Fired for Looking for a New Job?

A: No.

To fire an employee legally the dismal must be classed as “fair”. Broadly, this means there must have been something wrong with your job performance. Assuming that you’re not job hunting on work time or letting your search affect your productivity, an employer who fired you for job searching would be legally on very shaky ground.

When BG Group tried to fire a worker for indicating on LinkedIn that he was looking to move on, the employee sued. While he may lose the case, it’s caused BG Group an expensive headache and a PR disaster they’d rather have avoided.

 

Q: Can I Be Fired for Being Sick?

A: Yes.

Although the UK government encourages dismissal of a sick employee to be the “last resort”, it is not legally prohibited. The logic is that paying an employee who is incapable of doing the work required is an unfair burden on a business. However, employers are expected to first investigate the employee’s situation and allow the employee to respond to their concerns.

The exception is if your illness counts as a disability under the 2010 Equality Act. In these instances, you are protected against employment discrimination including dismissal. To get rid of you, employers would need to prove that they are unable to make any ‘reasonable adjustments’ which would allow you to continue working.

 

Beth Leslie is a career and lifestyle writer, and editor of the Inspiring Interns blog, which provides graduate careers advice. Inspiring Interns is a graduate recruitment agency specialising in matching candidates to their dream job or internship. Click here to browse their London-based graduate jobs, and here for their graduate jobs Manchester page.