Dismissal of Employees: Effective Notice of Termination

Effective Notice of Termination

The EAT decided an interesting case in relation to the alleged termination of a teacher’s employment, Birmingham City Council v Emery

Ms Emery was a teacher at Benson Community School who was dismissed due to lengthy absences for health reasons. As she worked for a community school, legislation dictates that although the decision to dismiss comes from the governing body of the school, the actual employer is the local authority.

In this instance the Ms Emery was notified by the governing body that she was being dismissed, the following day the local authority wrote to her serving notice that her contract had been terminated. The EAT held that the notification from the governing body was not the act which terminated her employment contract.

Why was this so important? In this case had the dismissal been on the earlier date (when the governing body notified Ms Emery), she would have been given sufficient notice. However, as valid notice was not served until the next day when Ms Emery was notified by the local authority the EAT held the deadline had been missed and Ms Emery was entitled to payment of notice (£8,104).

Lessons learned? Employer should ensure they

-       are serving effective notice of termination, if you are not sure, take advice

-       know the date termination was served, time limits and deadlines can cost you money

-       are familiar with the terms of their employee’s contracts

Gamlins can provide a ‘health check’ for your employment needs, drop us a line to discuss how we can mitigate risk to your business. As a North Wales firm we want to help businesses across the region with their employment needs.

Call 01745 343 500 and ask to speak to a member of our Employment Team

Our Employment Solicitors are:

John Hoult: http://gamlinslaw.co.uk/people/
Ron Davison: http://gamlinslaw.co.uk/people/
Sion Williams: http://gamlinslaw.co.uk/people/
Elissa Thursfield: http://gamlinslaw.co.uk/people/

www.gamlinslaw.co.uk