Role Requirements: Qualifications, Licences and Disqualification
These templates are designed to help employers deal with issues arising where a role depends on an employee holding a required qualification, licence, training record, or other essential status.
If a job requires a particular qualification, degree, training standard, or licence, the employer is entitled to ask for proof that the employee holds it. Where the employee cannot provide that evidence, fails to obtain or renew it, or loses it during employment, a dispute or employment issue may arise that needs to be handled carefully and consistently.
This collection includes documents for confirming and managing those issues, including disciplinary hearing notices and related correspondence. It also covers driving disqualification where holding a valid driving licence is essential to the role.
Qualifications, Licences, and Driving Disqualification
These templates are particularly useful where an employee may no longer meet an essential requirement of their role.
That may include failure to produce evidence of a qualification, failure to obtain or maintain it, or disqualification from driving where driving is necessary for the job.
If an employee’s role depends on holding a valid driving licence and they are disqualified from driving, dismissal may be possible. This is commonly referred to as a statutory bar dismissal, because the employee can no longer continue in the role without contravening a duty or restriction imposed by statute.
Managing the Process Fairly
These matters should be documented carefully to help avoid allegations of inconsistent treatment, unlawful discrimination, constructive dismissal, or procedurally unfair dismissal.
In driving disqualification cases in particular, the employer must act fairly, take reasonable steps to see whether the employee can remain in the business, and properly consider alternatives to dismissal before deciding to terminate employment.
Practical Support for Role Requirement Disputes
Taken together, these templates provide a practical framework for managing disputes and employment issues linked to qualifications, licences, and statutory disqualification. They are intended to help employers keep the process organised, communicate clearly, and maintain proper records throughout.
Role Requirements: Qualifications, Licences and Disqualification is part of Employment. Just £38.50 + VAT provides unlimited downloads from Employment for 1 year.
Frequently Asked Questions
An employee cannot show evidence of a qualification the job requires. What steps should we take before considering dismissal? +
Follow a disciplinary hearing under the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures before dismissing for lack of qualification. First confirm in writing that you need evidence and give a reasonable opportunity to provide it. If they cannot, convene a hearing, let the employee explain, consider whether time to obtain the qualification is possible and document every stage. Lacking a required qualification can be a fair reason for dismissal under the capability or qualifications ground in section 98(2)(a) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, but procedure still matters. Use the Confirmation of Qualification Dispute letter and Notice of Disciplinary Hearing for qualification disputes.
Our employee has been disqualified from driving and their role requires a valid licence. Can we dismiss them? +
Dismissal may be possible, but only after a fair process. Where keeping the driver in their role would make the employer contravene a statutory duty, this is a statutory bar dismissal, a potentially fair reason under section 98(2)(d) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. First investigate the facts, hold a meeting, genuinely consider redeployment to a non-driving role and consider the length of the ban. The Simply-Docs sub-folder provides a letter inviting the employee to a meeting, a redeployment offer letter and a dismissal letter, giving a documented sequence from first meeting to outcome.
One of our employees has failed to obtain a required qualification by the agreed deadline. Is a formal disciplinary process needed before we can act? +
Usually, but not always. Even where an employee has missed a deadline to obtain a qualification required for their role, a fair disciplinary process should precede any sanction. Under the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures, notify the employee in writing, hold a hearing where they can put their case and allow them to be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative. Skipping these steps risks an unfair dismissal finding at an employment tribunal and a compensation uplift of up to 25 per cent. Note, however, that for most ordinary unfair dismissal claims an employee currently needs 2 years' continuous service, so an employee below that period generally cannot bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim (day-one protection applies only to automatically unfair or discriminatory dismissals). A fair procedure remains strongly advisable in every case. Use the Simply-Docs Failure to Obtain Qualifications Notice and the related hearing notice.
We need to hold a disciplinary hearing because an employee is disputing whether they hold the qualification required for their role. What should the hearing notice include? +
Set out the nature of the concern clearly, namely that the employee has not provided acceptable evidence of the required qualification, explain the potential outcome if it cannot be resolved (which may include dismissal), give enough notice to prepare and inform them of their right to be accompanied by a work colleague or trade union representative. This right applies under section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 and cannot be waived by the employer. The Simply-Docs Qualification(s) Dispute Notice of Disciplinary Hearing template covers these requirements.
Before dismissing an employee who has been disqualified from driving, do we need to consider finding them alternative work? +
Usually, but not in every case. Even where a driving disqualification creates a statutory bar to the employee's current role, the employer must take reasonable steps to consider whether suitable alternative employment exists in the business before dismissing. This means genuinely considering any existing vacancies the employee is suitable for, not creating a vacancy. What is reasonable depends on the circumstances and the size and resources of the business, so this is not an absolute requirement in every case. GOV.UK confirms that where it is impossible to carry on employing the person, for example where no suitable vacancy exists, dismissal is likely to be fair without redeployment. Failure to take those reasonable steps where they are appropriate is likely to make the dismissal unfair, even though the statutory restriction is a potentially fair ground under section 98(2)(d) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The Simply-Docs sub-folder provides a letter offering redeployment to support and document this step.
What is the difference between the qualification dispute templates and the driving disqualification templates in this section, and which do I need? +
Use qualification dispute templates for missing qualifications, driving disqualification templates for driving bans. The qualification dispute templates (Confirmation of Qualification Dispute, Failure to Obtain Qualifications Notice and the related hearing letters) apply where the issue is whether an employee holds or can obtain a qualification required for their role, engaging the capability and qualifications ground in section 98(2)(a). The driving disqualification templates (invitation to meeting, redeployment offer and dismissal letter) apply where an employee who must hold a valid driving licence has been disqualified, following the statutory bar dismissal route under section 98(2)(d) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Use the full sequence for whichever applies.
