Statutory Dismissal Procedures

The EAT has held, in Homeserve v Dixon, that a step 1 letter need not state that the employer is contemplating dismissal.

The employer, having caught the employee red-handed in an act of gross misconduct, sent him a letter inviting him to a 'formal disciplinary meeting' for 'breach of contractual obligations'.

The employment tribunal held that the dismissal was automatically unfair, as the letter did not state that the employer was contemplating dismissal.

The EAT, presided over by HHJ Peter Clark, overturned this decision, holding that it was sufficient that the letter invited the employee to a 'formal disciplinary meeting', as it was implicit in that that the employer was contemplating dismissal or some other disciplinary action.