Being involved in a staff dismissal in any capacity is stressful enough. But if it’s not carried out fairly then things can get very complicated. Wrongful and unfair dismissal are two distinct terms that are often used interchangeably – but are actually very different. So what are the differences between the two?

Wrongful dismissal
No specific legislation is devoted to wrongful dismissal: it is a branch of the law of contract which emanates from what is known as the ‘common’ law. Guidance on wrongful dismissal is based on contractual concepts and any changes stem in the main, from case law.

Some legislation does have an impact on wrongful dismissal claims. For example, the Employment Rights Act 1996 affects the length of an appropriate notice period and may therefore affect damages for wrongful dismissal.

Wrongful dismissal is the name given to a contractual claim where there has been a breach of the oral or written terms of an employment contract by an employer, which led to a dismissal (actual or constructive) of the employee.

The most common example of a wrongful dismissal is failure to give the employee the correct length of contractual or statutory notice. Cases of wrongful dismissal also occur if an employer dismisses an employee without providing adequate compensation in lieu of notice.

Are wrongful dismissal and unfair dismissal claims based on the same concept?
No, they are entirely different. Wrongful dismissal is a long established concept emanating from contract law. Contractual wrongful dismissal cases have been around since the 18th century. By contrast, ‘unfair’ dismissal is less than 40 years old. It is a statutory creation originally emanating from the Industrial Relations Act 1971.

A wrongful dismissal claim is essentially based on what the parties agreed in their contract and whether the employer has reneged on that agreement. Unfair dismissal is based on more arbitrary concepts of fairness. There is no qualifying period of employment for wrongful dismissal claims, whereas in most unfair dismissal cases the employee has to demonstrate two years’ continuity of employment.

Unfair dismissal can and frequently does occur without there being a wrongful dismissal claim. However, some dismissals will be unfair, some will be wrongful and some will be both. To example will help illustrate this: An employee has worked for a company for over two years. He has a three-month notice period in his contract. He has always felt that the working relationship with his line manager was slightly strained, although they maintain a veneer of co-operation. One Friday, in a tense department meeting, the employee openly disagrees with the manager for the first time. Immediately after the meeting the line manager summons the employee to his office and dismisses him saying he will be paid up to that Friday and not beyond. The employee will have the following claims:

If the employee had been allowed to work his notice period or had been paid in lieu in accordance with a payment in lieu clause in his contract, then he would not have a claim for wrongful dismissal. His claim would then be for unfair dismissal alone.

Unfair dismissal is exclusively statutory in nature and can only be dealt with by employment tribunals, not the normal civil courts. Wrongful dismissal claims are dealt with in both the courts and the tribunals.

Costs are rarely recoverable in unfair dismissal claims. By contrast, a successful employer or employee may recover their legal costs in a wrongful dismissal claim in the normal civil courts.

The concepts of compensation are also different. In wrongful dismissal claims, the measure of damages is based upon putting the employee in the position they would have been in had they received payment for the proper notice to which they were entitled under their contract. In unfair dismissal claims, there is a basic award based on a mathematical formula, and a compensatory award which will usually encompass loss extending beyond the end of the notice period. As a dismissal can be both wrongful and unfair at the same time, compensation paid by the employer for wrongful dismissal will normally be set off against the compensatory award part of an unfair dismissal award.

Damages in wrongful dismissal claims are calculated in the same way as breach of any other contract. The basic rule is that the employee must be placed in the same position as if the contract had been performed.

The employee will therefore be entitled to their full net salary for the contractual notice period and loss of other benefits for the notice period including, for example, employer’s pension contributions, loss of use of a company car, private health insurance, contractual bonuses, commissions, etc.

Wrongful dismissal claims will normally comprise net salary and benefits just for the notice period. However, the amount payable may increase in appropriate cases where the employee has been dismissed without proper notice and without the benefit of a proper disciplinary process. In such cases the damages may include the income which would have been earned during the time the disciplinary process would have taken place as well as during the contractual notice period.

Employers need to take advice, or at least give careful thought to the correct tax approach when calculating damages for wrongful dismissal. It is necessary first to assess what the employee would have actually received had the contract been performed – this means their salary and benefits in hand net of tax. Once this has been calculated then the first £30,000 of the payment is tax free as compensation for loss of earnings. If the damages exceed £30,000 then the excess over that amount is taxable.

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Employee motivation is the key to a happy, productive workforce. Look at some businesses, and it’s easy to see that they must use strong techniques to motivate team members. Everyone looks happy, seems to have been in their post for a long time and the business goes from strength to strength.

Attitude has a lot to do with how employees react and respond to the culture within a workplace. If there is an air of trust, employees tend to respond better. But when the environment is tainted with doubt, mistrust and suspicion, employees tend to vote with their feet. When they are ready to move up, they may well move out.

For anyone completing a Human Resources Management course, they will know that losing staff could spell disaster for a company. The skill set that the person has will be removed from the company. This means a business can be left relying on someone else to deliver the same level of service and skill, but they may struggle to do so. And the downward spiral continues.

As a business, you need to maximise revenue and increase productivity with staff working as efficiently as possible, but without team members struggling or feeling over worked. In fact, to get the best out of people, you need to put the best in. You need good techniques to motivate team members! By providing a happy, healthy workplace for your employees, you will see a boost in productivity, efficiency and overall happiness – so let’s start right now!

5 techniques to motivate team members

employees using employee incentives while having lunch together

1. Communicate. And communicate better

A common gripe from disgruntled employees is that they don’t know what is happening. If you know there is a strong rumour mill within your business; you need to counteract its negativity. And now is the best time to start!

If there are changes afoot – and which business doesn’t go through periods of flux and improvement? – then tell your people. You can do this in all kinds of ways – call a meeting, send out an email or create a monthly newsletter that highlights some of the great stuff that has been happening in recent weeks.

When it comes to employee motivation, the smallest of things can make a huge difference. The bigger a company gets, the further apart management and shop floor staff seem to become. If you are part of the management team, why not take some time out of your busy schedule to go and say ‘hi’ to people?
This sounds like a soft touch that will hardly have an impact but when staff members are made to feel that they are important, it will make a huge impact to their underlying motivation for working for the company. Effective human resources management is about communicating with employees to making HR the go-to people when it comes to motivating staff.

2. Listen and empower

One of the most important techniques to motivate team members is to simply listen to them. Taking the time to hear and understand what your staff have to say is just as essential to a smooth business as management talking to them.

When someone is completing a certain set of tasks on a regular basis, they can sometimes see a different way of doing things. As management, you may want something completing in a certain way because… well, you just do.

But why? Imagine the boost to team or to an individual’s motivation if they had a say in how things are done, in how their job is completed and how they think better results can be achieved?
This is just as much about empowering staff as it is about listening to them. Many employees will have ideas and responses to how you can improve the businesses efficiency. They may also be able to tell you what skills they lack, and how they can go about improving their own skill set.

This benefits a business enormously and seeing as every business wants maximum, efficiency, productivity and financial return it makes sense to listen to everyone with an input.

3. Provide incentives

people working in an open plan office

Providing an employee incentive programme is a common tip that many people when it comes to employee motivation but, use wisely as it can be a double-edged sword.
On one hand, it can seem like ‘buying off’ staff but when used as part of a wider setting, staff incentives can be a great way of firing up staff motivation. We are not, however, talking about a Christmas party:

4. Allow your employees to demonstrate autonomy in the workplace

Providing your employees with autonomy, or a bit of independence, goes a long way. Those who are less dependent on their managers, colleagues or workplace demonstrate higher levels of work productivity. Providing the opportunity to do so allows your staff to feel trusted and more in control of what they do during a workday, allowing them to work harder in their own interests.

There are plenty of ways to give your employees more autonomy in the workplace. For example, you could provide flexible/hybrid working, where your staff can work from home for a certain amount of time per week if they would like to. Or, you could give them more choice over their schedule, work pace and the order in which they complete their tasks every day. Finding ways to give your employees a certain amount of dependence, however this will work for your business and workplace, is essential to their motivation and overall happiness.

However, it isn’t the best idea to jump from dependent staff to complete autonomy. So, try to integrate certain autonomous aspects slowly to allow your employers to adapt to the new ways and really come into their own.

Helping Boost Employee Motivation

Successful completion of a Human Resource Management course can open many doors. For any business, looking after their most valuable assets – people – is a sure fire way of maintaining a strong presence in the marketplace. Motivating staff is crucial to retaining the right people in the right places.

What are your favourite techniques to motivate team members? Give us your suggestions below!