Whilst the normal rule is that an employee must have one year's service to be eligible to present a complaint of unfair dismissal, there are a number of caveats employers should bear in mind. First, there is an increasing number of grounds for dismissal which are automatically unfair and for which there is no qualifying service requirement. Examples include pregnancy, trade union membership, acting as an employee representative and 'whistle-blowing'. [Automatically unfair reasons for dismissal]. Second, where an employee is dismissed with less than one week's notice, their employment is deemed to have ended on the date it would have ended if he or she had been given the statutory minimum period of notice. Third, where an employee is dismissed in breach of contract without notice or with short notice, they may bring an action for wrongful dismissal, the remedy for which is damages designed to put them in the position they would have been in had the contract been performed. Normally, this would be their net earnings for the notice period.
It is also safest to ensure that the statutory dismissal procedure is applied to all employees irrespective of their length of service not just to employees with at least one year's service.