John McMullen discusses unfair dismissal & reasonableness
When examining an employer’s decision to dismiss, a number of well established principles come into play for the purposes of the test of fairness in s 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996).
First, in relation to alleged conduct, the test for establishing a fair reason for dismissal is laid down by British Home Stores Limited v Burchell [1978] IRLR 379, [1980] ICR 303n. The employer must genuinely believe the employee is guilty of the conduct and hold that belief on reasonable grounds following a reasonable investigation. The employment tribunal then has to consider whether the employer’s decision to dismiss on the ground of that conduct fell within the range of reasonable responses available to a reasonable employer (Iceland Frozen Foods v Jones [1982] IRLR 439, [1983] ICR 17). An employment tribunal must not substitute its own view for that of a dismissing employer. In other words it must avoid a “substitution mind set” (London Ambulance Service NHS Trust v Small [2009] IRLR 563,
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