The Basics of Dismissal on the Grounds of Illegality


If an employee is unable to continue to work for you without breaking the law, you may have fair grounds to dismiss them. However, before actually dismissing someone for this reason, you need to familiarise yourself with the legal requirements outlined below and seek professional legal advice. To find out more you can also read our step-by-step Your Responsibilities guide.

The Employment Rights Act lists the potential reasons for fair dismissal. On the list is the situation where allowing an employee to continue to work would contravene a duty of restriction. If an employee or the firm they work for is breaking a statutory regulation or law by working in a particular field or carrying out a particular task then dismissal on the grounds of illegality is likely to be appropriate.

Here are a few common examples of this kind of dismissal:

  • An employee that has lost the right to work in the UK because a permit or visa has expired, or because of a rule change
  • A driver who has lost his or her licence and can no longer do their usual job
  • When an employee who is working in a regulated activity connected to vulnerable adults or children is banned from doing so. For more details about this situation, see Protecting Vulnerable Groups

With this form of dismissal, it is important to consider the matter carefully before taking action. It is always wise to look for ways to make dismissal unnecessary and to follow a fair procedure.

If an employee who has been continuously employed for the required period believes that they have been unfairly dismissed, they can bring an unfair dismissal complaint before an employment tribunal. For employees whose employment began prior to 6th April 2012 one year is the qualifying period. There is a qualifying period of two years for any workers whose employment started after 6th April 2012. When it comes to those whose dismissal is deemed as automatically unfair there is no qualifying period. To get a better understanding of this see our Automatic Unfair Dismissal checklist.

Normally employee shareholders do not have the right to bring an unfair dismissal claim. However, in the situation where their dismissal falls into the category of an ‘automatically unfair’ one, they can bring a claim before a tribunal.

To read more about the legal requirements surrounding dismissal read our Rules and Regulations section.

The legal advice team at Hylton Potts can provide you with more detailed advice if you call us on 0207 381 8111 or contact us by email.