Automatic Unfair Dismissal: A Guide for UK Employees
Last updated: December 2025 Applies to: England, Wales and Scotland. Not tailored to Northern Ireland.
Quick Summary
Automatic unfair dismissal is when you're sacked for a reason the law considers so fundamentally wrong that you can claim compensation from your very first day of employment. No 2-year qualifying period needed.
Protected reasons include being dismissed for:
- Pregnancy or maternity leave
- Whistleblowing (reporting wrongdoing)
- Health and safety concerns
- Trade union membership or activities
- Asserting your statutory rights (like asking for minimum wage)
If your dismissal was automatically unfair, compensation is uncapped for whistleblowing and health and safety cases. Awards can exceed the normal £118,223 limit.
You still have only 3 months minus one day to start your claim. For whistleblowing and health and safety dismissals, you can apply for interim relief within 7 days, potentially keeping your job while your case is heard.
Coming change: From October 2026, dismissing someone for refusing unreasonable contract changes ("fire and rehire") becomes automatically unfair under the Employment Rights Act 2025.
What Is Automatic Unfair Dismissal?
Automatic unfair dismissal is a special category where the reason for sacking you is considered so inherently wrong that the law protects you regardless of how long you've worked there.
Normally, to claim unfair dismissal, you need 2 years' continuous service. For automatically unfair reasons, that requirement disappears. Protection starts from day one.
The logic is simple: certain rights are so fundamental that no employer should be able to violate them, ever. Sacking someone for being pregnant, blowing the whistle on fraud, or raising safety concerns strikes at the heart of basic employment protections.
Why does this matter for you?
If you've been dismissed with less than 2 years' service, you might assume you have no legal recourse. That's often not true.
Ask yourself: Why was I really dismissed? If the true reason connects to any of the protected grounds below, you may have grounds for a claim, even if you only worked there for a week.
The Key Difference: Ordinary vs Automatic Unfair Dismissal
Understanding this distinction could be worth thousands of pounds to you.
| Ordinary Unfair Dismissal | Automatic Unfair Dismissal | |
|---|---|---|
| Qualifying service needed | 2 years | None (day-one right)* |
| What you must prove | No fair reason OR unfair process | Dismissal was for a protected reason |
| Employer can defend by showing | Fair reason + reasonable process | Almost nothing (the reason itself is unlawful) |
| Compensation cap | £118,223 or 52 weeks' pay | No cap for whistleblowing, H&S, discrimination |
| Interim relief available | No | Yes (whistleblowing, H&S, union, employee rep) |
*Three exceptions require qualifying service (see below).
With ordinary unfair dismissal, your employer can argue they had a fair reason (like misconduct) and followed a reasonable process. If they succeed, you lose.
With automatic unfair dismissal, the reason itself is unlawful. Your employer generally cannot justify it by saying they followed a good process. Sacking someone for being pregnant is automatically unfair in most circumstances. The tribunal doesn't need to consider whether the employer acted "reasonably."
Automatic unfair dismissal claims are significantly stronger when you can prove the protected reason was why you were dismissed.
Complete List of Automatically Unfair Reasons
There are over 60 specific grounds in UK law that make a dismissal automatically unfair. Here are the main categories, explained from your perspective as an employee:
Pregnancy and Family Leave
It may be automatically unfair to dismiss someone for:
- Being pregnant
- Any reason connected to pregnancy (including pregnancy-related illness)
- Taking or requesting maternity leave
- Taking or requesting paternity leave
- Taking or requesting adoption leave
- Taking or requesting shared parental leave
- Taking or requesting parental leave
- Taking time off for dependants (family emergencies)
- Attending antenatal appointments
- Attending adoption appointments
This protection applies from day one of employment. If you're dismissed shortly after announcing your pregnancy, the timing alone may support a claim.
Overlap with discrimination: Pregnancy dismissals may also amount to sex discrimination under the Equality Act 2010, giving you an additional (uncapped) claim.
Health and Safety
It may be automatically unfair to dismiss someone for:
- Raising health and safety concerns with the employer
- Refusing to work in conditions they reasonably believe pose serious and imminent danger
- Taking appropriate steps to protect themselves or others from danger
- Carrying out duties as a health and safety representative
- Leaving or refusing to return to a workplace they reasonably believe is dangerous
You don't need to prove the danger actually existed. You only need to show that you reasonably believed it did. If you genuinely thought the workplace was unsafe, that may be enough.
Compensation: Health and safety dismissals have no compensation cap.
Interim relief: Available. You can apply within 7 days of dismissal.
Whistleblowing (Protected Disclosures)
It may be automatically unfair to dismiss someone for making a "protected disclosure," which means reporting wrongdoing that you reasonably believe is in the public interest.
Protected disclosures include reporting:
- Criminal offences (fraud, theft, bribery)
- Failure to comply with legal obligations
- Miscarriages of justice
- Danger to health and safety
- Environmental damage
- Deliberate concealment of any of the above
You're protected even if your disclosure turns out to be wrong, provided you reasonably believed it was true. The disclosure must be made to an appropriate person (employer, regulator, or in some cases, the media). Protection covers both employees and workers.
Compensation: Whistleblowing dismissals have no compensation cap. Awards can run into hundreds of thousands of pounds for senior employees.
Interim relief: Available. You must apply within 7 days of dismissal.
For full guidance, see our guide: [Whistleblowing at Work: Your Rights and Protections].
Trade Union Membership and Activities
It may be automatically unfair to dismiss someone for:
- Being a member of a trade union
- Refusing to join a trade union
- Taking part in trade union activities (at appropriate times)
- Acting as a trade union representative
- Using union services
Interim relief: Available for trade union dismissals.
Industrial Action
It may be automatically unfair to dismiss someone for taking part in lawful industrial action (like strikes) during:
- The first 12 weeks of the action, OR
- After 12 weeks, if the employer hasn't taken reasonable steps to resolve the dispute
The action must be "official," meaning properly balloted and organised through a union. Unofficial action doesn't have the same protection.
If your employer "locks you out" (prevents you from working), those days don't count towards the 12 weeks.
Asserting Statutory Rights
It may be automatically unfair to dismiss someone for asking for or asserting their legal rights, including:
- The National Minimum Wage / National Living Wage
- Written statement of employment terms
- Itemised pay statements
- Rights under the Working Time Regulations (breaks, holidays, maximum hours)
- Statutory leave entitlements
- The right to be accompanied at disciplinary/grievance hearings
You're protected even if it turns out you didn't actually have the right you were asserting, as long as you genuinely believed you did.
Working Time and Pay
It may be automatically unfair to dismiss someone for:
- Refusing to work more than 48 hours per week (unless they've opted out)
- Taking or requesting statutory holiday entitlement
- Taking or requesting rest breaks
- Raising concerns about unpaid wages or minimum wage violations
- Matters connected to working tax credit
Part-Time and Fixed-Term Status
It may be automatically unfair to dismiss someone for:
- Being a part-time worker (rather than full-time)
- Being on a fixed-term contract
- Requesting to become permanent
- Asserting equal treatment rights as a part-time or fixed-term worker
Other Protected Grounds
It may also be automatically unfair to dismiss someone for:
- Jury service: performing civic duty
- Refusing Sunday work: if a shop or betting worker with opt-out rights
- Pension trustee duties: acting as an occupational pension scheme trustee
- Employee representative duties: representing colleagues in TUPE transfers or collective redundancy consultations
- European Works Council activities
- Flexible working requests: asking to change working pattern
- Study and training requests: requesting time off to study
- Agency worker rights: asserting rights after 12 weeks
- Pension auto-enrolment: matters connected to workplace pension enrolment
- Information and consultation rights: under the ICE Regulations 2004
- Blacklisting: being on a prohibited list under the Employment Relations Act 1999
Redundancy Selection on Protected Grounds
If you're selected for redundancy because of any automatically unfair reason, that may also be automatically unfair.
For example: if your employer makes you redundant but the real reason they chose you (rather than a colleague) was because you're pregnant, a union member, or had raised health and safety concerns, that may be automatically unfair.
Exceptions: When You Still Need Qualifying Service
Three categories of automatic unfair dismissal do require a qualifying period (currently just under 2 years):
1. TUPE Transfers
If you're dismissed solely because of a business transfer (TUPE), it may be automatically unfair. But you need the normal qualifying period to claim, unless the employer can't show an "economic, technical or organisational reason" (ETO) for the dismissal.
2. Spent Convictions
If you're dismissed because of a spent conviction under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, you need qualifying service to claim.
3. Retirement
Compulsory retirement dismissals require qualifying service (and may also be age discrimination).
For all other automatically unfair reasons, you can claim from day one.
Employment Rights Act 2025: What's Changing
The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Royal Assent 18 December 2025) adds new automatically unfair grounds:
"Fire and Rehire" Becomes Automatically Unfair
From October 2026, dismissing an employee for refusing to accept unreasonable changes to their contract (the practice known as "fire and rehire") becomes automatically unfair.
If your employer:
- Proposes to change your contract terms (pay, hours, location, duties)
- You reasonably refuse
- They dismiss you
...that dismissal will be automatically unfair, unless the employer can show the changes were necessary to prevent genuine business failure and they followed proper consultation.
Current position: Until October 2026, fire and rehire isn't automatically unfair, but it may still be ordinary unfair dismissal if handled unreasonably.
Enhanced Pregnancy and Maternity Protections
From 2027, additional protections against dismissing pregnant employees and those returning from maternity leave will come into force.
How to Prove Automatic Unfair Dismissal
Here's what claimants typically need to show at tribunal:
The Burden of Proof
- You must first show that the protected reason could have been a factor in your dismissal
- The burden then shifts to your employer to prove the real reason was something else
The Court of Appeal confirmed this approach in Kuzel v Roche Products Ltd [2008]. Once you show a protected disclosure was made and dismissal followed, your employer must prove a different reason. If they can't, the tribunal can infer the dismissal was for whistleblowing.
This is more favourable than ordinary unfair dismissal, where you carry more of the burden throughout.
Evidence That Helps
Timing: Were you dismissed shortly after:
- Announcing your pregnancy?
- Raising a health and safety concern?
- Making a protected disclosure?
- Joining a union or taking part in industrial action?
- Asserting a statutory right?
Suspicious timing can be powerful evidence. If you were dismissed two weeks after whistleblowing, the employer may struggle to explain that as coincidence.
Documentation: Gather everything:
- The dismissal letter and any stated reasons
- Emails, letters, or messages around the time of the protected event
- Notes from meetings
- Witness statements from colleagues
- Your own contemporaneous notes (written at the time)
Comparators: Were colleagues in similar situations (but without the protected characteristic) treated differently?
Previous treatment: Did your employer's attitude toward you change after the protected event?
What Your Employer Will Try to Argue
Your employer will likely claim the dismissal was for a different reason: performance, conduct, redundancy, etc. They'll try to show documentation supporting their version.
Claimants typically need to show that the employer's stated reason is a pretext and that the real reason was the protected ground. Inconsistencies in their story, suspicious timing, and different treatment of comparable colleagues all help the case.
Compensation: What You Could Receive
If an automatic unfair dismissal claim succeeds:
Basic Award
Calculated using the statutory formula:
- 0.5 weeks' pay for each complete year of service when under 22
- 1 week's pay for each complete year when aged 22 to 40
- 1.5 weeks' pay for each complete year when aged 41+
Weekly pay is capped at £719 (April 2025). Maximum service counted: 20 years.
Maximum basic award: £21,570
If you've only worked a few months, your basic award will be small. The compensatory award is where the real value lies.
Compensatory Award
This covers actual financial losses:
- Lost earnings (past and future)
- Lost benefits (pension, car, healthcare)
- Expenses finding new work
Standard cap: The lower of £118,223 or 52 weeks' gross pay
UNCAPPED Compensation
For these automatically unfair dismissals, there is no cap on the compensatory award:
- Whistleblowing (protected disclosures)
- Health and safety reasons
- Discrimination (where Equality Act claims apply)
Awards can run into hundreds of thousands of pounds, particularly for high earners or where the dismissal has had severe career consequences.
ACAS Uplift
If the employer failed to follow the ACAS Code of Practice on disciplinary procedures, the award can be increased by up to 25%.
Discrimination Overlap
If an automatic unfair dismissal also amounts to discrimination (e.g., pregnancy = sex discrimination), you can claim injury to feelings under the Vento bands:
| Band | Amount (April 2025) |
|---|---|
| Lower | £1,200 to £12,100 |
| Middle | £12,100 to £36,400 |
| Upper | £36,400 to £60,700 |
| Exceptional | Above £60,700 |
Discrimination compensation is always uncapped.
Interim Relief: Emergency Protection
For certain automatically unfair dismissals, you can apply for interim relief, a fast-track procedure that can keep you employed (or on full pay) while your case proceeds.
When Interim Relief Is Available
- Whistleblowing dismissals
- Health and safety dismissals
- Trade union membership/activities dismissals
- Employee representative dismissals
The 7-Day Rule
You must apply for interim relief within 7 days of your dismissal. Not 7 days of your last working day, but 7 days of when you were told you were dismissed.
This is an extremely tight deadline. Miss it, and you lose the right to interim relief entirely.
What Interim Relief Can Achieve
If the tribunal believes the claim is likely to succeed, it can order your employer to:
- Reinstate you immediately, OR
- Continue paying you at your full rate until the full hearing
This could mean maintaining your income for months while waiting for your case to be heard.
How to Apply
- Submit your ET1 tribunal claim form
- Include a separate application for interim relief
- Do this within 7 days of dismissal
The tribunal will schedule an urgent hearing, usually within 7 days of receiving your application.
Time Limits: Don't Miss Your Deadline
Standard Deadline: 3 Months Minus One Day
You have 3 months minus one day from your effective date of termination to start ACAS early conciliation.
Example: Dismissed on 15 January 2025 → deadline is 14 April 2025
ACAS Early Conciliation
You must contact ACAS before submitting a tribunal claim. As of 1 December 2025, early conciliation can last up to 12 weeks (previously 6 weeks).
This "stops the clock" on your deadline. After conciliation ends, you have at least 1 month to submit your tribunal claim.
Interim Relief: 7 Days
If applying for interim relief (whistleblowing, H&S, union, employee rep cases), you must apply within 7 days of dismissal.
This is separate from the main 3-month deadline and much shorter. If interim relief applies to your situation, this deadline takes priority.
Coming Change
From October 2026, the standard tribunal time limit extends from 3 months to 6 months. But this doesn't apply yet. Work to current deadlines.
What To Do Right Now
If you've been dismissed and think it may have been automatically unfair:
Immediately (within 7 days):
- Check if interim relief applies. Whistleblowing, health and safety, union, or employee rep dismissal? If yes, you have 7 days to apply
- Note your dismissal date. Calculate your 3-month-minus-1-day deadline
- Consider seeking legal advice. Many solicitors offer free initial consultations
This week:
- Write down everything. What happened, when, who said what, while it's fresh
- Gather documents. Contract, handbook, dismissal letter, relevant emails
- Identify witnesses. Colleagues who saw or heard relevant events
- Request written reasons. You have the right to ask (and if pregnant/on maternity leave, employers must provide them)
Within 2 weeks:
- Contact ACAS on 0300 123 1100. Start early conciliation
- Consider your evidence. How would you demonstrate the protected reason was why you were dismissed?
- Start looking for new work. This helps financially and demonstrates mitigation
How Yerty Can Help
Yerty Platform
Our Unfair Dismissal Claims package covers automatic unfair dismissal and includes:
- Eligibility assessment to check if your dismissal falls into a protected category
- Step-by-step guidance from identifying your claim to tribunal submission
- Document templates for witness statements, chronologies, submissions
- Deadline tracker so you never miss the 3-month (or 7-day interim relief) deadline
- Compensation calculator to estimate potential basic and compensatory awards
Start here: app.yerty.co.uk/signup
Yerty AI
Have questions about whether your dismissal may have been automatically unfair? Yerty AI can:
- Explain each protected ground in plain English
- Help you identify which category may apply to your situation
- Guide you through the evidence you'll need
- Answer questions about the process and timelines
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between unfair dismissal and automatic unfair dismissal?
Ordinary unfair dismissal requires 2 years' service and you must show your employer had no fair reason or didn't follow a fair process. Automatic unfair dismissal requires no service period. If the reason was one of the protected grounds (pregnancy, whistleblowing, etc.), the dismissal is unlawful regardless of process.
Can I claim automatic unfair dismissal if I've worked there less than 2 years?
Yes. That's the whole point. For most automatically unfair reasons, you can claim from your very first day of employment. Three exceptions (TUPE, spent convictions, retirement) still require qualifying service.
How do I prove my dismissal was automatically unfair?
You need to show the protected reason was a factor in your dismissal. Evidence includes: suspicious timing (dismissed shortly after the protected event), documents, emails, witness statements, and inconsistencies in your employer's stated reason.
Is compensation uncapped for all automatic unfair dismissals?
No. Only for whistleblowing, health and safety, and discrimination-related dismissals. Other automatically unfair dismissals have the standard cap (£118,223 or 52 weeks' pay).
What is interim relief and do I need it?
Interim relief is a fast-track procedure for certain dismissals (whistleblowing, H&S, union, employee rep) that can keep you employed or on full pay while your case proceeds. You must apply within 7 days of dismissal. It's extremely time-sensitive.
Can redundancy be automatically unfair?
Yes. If you were selected for redundancy because of a protected reason (e.g., you were chosen because you're pregnant or had raised health and safety concerns), that selection may be automatically unfair.
What if my employer says I was dismissed for performance but I think it was really because I'm pregnant?
Your employer must prove their stated reason is genuine. If you can show the timing is suspicious, their documentation is weak, or comparable colleagues were treated differently, the tribunal may find the real reason was the protected ground.
Do I need a solicitor?
For interim relief applications, legal representation is particularly important given the 7-day deadline. For other automatic unfair dismissal claims, a solicitor can significantly improve your chances, especially for complex whistleblowing or discrimination cases. Many offer "no win, no fee" for strong cases.
How much compensation could I get?
Basic award: up to £21,570 (based on age, service, weekly pay). Compensatory award: up to £118,223 or 52 weeks' pay, OR unlimited for whistleblowing, health and safety, and discrimination cases. Plus ACAS uplift (up to 25%) if the employer didn't follow proper procedures.
Sources
Legislation:
- Employment Rights Act 1996: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/contents
- Employment Rights Act 2025: www.legislation.gov.uk
- Equality Act 2010: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents
- Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/23/contents
- Working Time Regulations 1998: www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1833/contents
Case law:
- Kuzel v Roche Products Ltd [2008] EWCA Civ 380
Official guidance:
- ACAS, Unfair dismissal: www.acas.org.uk/dismissals/unfair-dismissal
- ACAS, Early conciliation: www.acas.org.uk/early-conciliation
- ACAS, Employment Rights Bill: www.acas.org.uk/employment-rights-bill
- Gov.uk, Dismissing staff: www.gov.uk/dismiss-staff
- Gov.uk, Whistleblowing: www.gov.uk/whistleblowing
Statutory rates (April 2025):
- Weekly pay cap: £719
- Maximum compensatory award: £118,223
- Maximum basic award: £21,570
- Vento bands: Lower £1,200 to £12,100, Middle £12,100 to £36,400, Upper £36,400 to £60,700
Related Guides
- Unfair Dismissal: Your Rights, Time Limits & What To Do
- Constructive Dismissal: When You Can Treat Yourself as Dismissed
- Whistleblowing at Work: Your Rights and Protections
- Time Limits for Taking Action on a Workplace Issue
- Missed Your Tribunal Deadline? You Might Still Have Options
- Where to Get Help With Work Problems