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Discipline & conduct

Can I dismiss an employee?

Answered by Samantha Newton FCIPD, Chartered Fellow CIPD · Last reviewed June 2026

In most cases yes, but only for a fair reason and by following a fair process. The legally fair reasons are conduct, capability or performance, redundancy, a legal reason (for example they have lost the right to work), and what the law calls some other substantial reason. The reason you rely on shapes everything that follows.

What lands employers in trouble is rarely the decision itself. It is dismissing without the right process behind it: no investigation, no fair warning, no chance to respond, or no right of appeal. Get the process wrong and even a justified dismissal can become an unfair dismissal claim.

Important

Every situation has its own details, and those details change the right answer. For a read on yours, take the free Employee Situation Check or book a call.

General guidance to help you decide your next step, not legal advice. Employment law changes, so always check the current position for your own situation.

Your situation, your answer

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This is general guidance. For a straight answer on your specific situation, take the free Situation Check or talk it through with Samantha.

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