After you and your employee have parted company, there are certain matters which may need to be addressed in order to protect your position after termination and to confirm the rights and obligations of the outgoing employee.

Reasons for Dismissal

Reasons for dismissal include:

• Capability;
• Illness;
• Redundancy;
• Summary dismissal (gross misconduct);
• A statutory restriction; and
• Some Other Substantial Reason (SOSR).

Giving Reasons

If an employee has been continuously employed for at least two years, they are entitled to receive, on request, a written statement of reasons for dismissal within fourteen days of the request. From 1 January 2027, six months' continuous employment is enough where the employment ends on or after that date, even if notice was given before then. If the employer gives less than the statutory minimum notice it is required to give, service is counted to the date on which that minimum notice would have ended; take advice where the employment ends shortly before 1 January 2027 but that minimum notice would run past it. An employee dismissed while pregnant, or while on maternity or adoption leave where the dismissal ends that leave, is entitled to a written statement without having to ask for one, whatever their length of service.

Although there are no technical requirements, the reasons must be clearly stated but no other formalities are involved. The reasons given have to be the true reasons but no consideration is to be taken (at this stage) of the adequacy of those reasons, though they would be relevant at an employment tribunal hearing related to a dismissal. If you, as the employer, fail to provide reasons or if the reasons given are untrue, then the employment tribunal may make an award of two weeks' pay, which is not subject to the statutory maximum.