Been sacked unfairly, forced to resign, or put at risk of redundancy? Eugene Pienaar provides direct legal consultancy on your employment position, ET1 review and tribunal support. Time limits are strict — act now.
Free dismissal guides at Be Your Best Lawyer
From the day you are dismissed to the day of your hearing. Solicitor-trained support throughout.
Direct advice on your dismissal from a non-practising solicitor. Understand whether your claim is strong before you file and what you are realistically likely to recover.
A solicitor-trained eye on your ET1 before you submit. The gaps Eugene finds at this stage cannot be fixed after filing. Fixed fee, written feedback within 48 hours.
Eugene attends your employment tribunal hearing as your McKenzie Friend. Pre-hearing strategy, document preparation and on-the-day support from a solicitor-trained professional.
Employment tribunal claims must be submitted within three months less one day of your dismissal or the last act of discrimination. You must also go through ACAS early conciliation first, which pauses the clock. Do not delay — contact us today if you were dismissed recently.
You have the right not to be unfairly dismissed. If your employer dismissed you without a fair reason or without following a fair procedure, you may have a claim for unfair dismissal at the employment tribunal. Most unfair dismissal claims require two years of continuous service, though there are important exceptions.
The employment tribunal considers two things: whether the reason for dismissal was a potentially fair reason, and whether the employer acted reasonably in treating that reason as sufficient grounds for dismissal. The potentially fair reasons are capability, conduct, redundancy, statutory restriction and some other substantial reason.
Even where the reason is potentially fair, procedural failures — failing to follow a proper disciplinary process, not giving warnings, not offering a right of appeal — can make an otherwise fair dismissal unfair.
If you resigned because your employer fundamentally breached your contract — by cutting your pay, changing your role significantly, allowing a hostile environment to persist or treating you in a way that destroys trust — you may be able to claim constructive dismissal. Constructive dismissal claims are complex and turn on precise timing. You must resign in response to the breach without delay, or you risk affirming the breach.
If you are considering resigning to make a constructive dismissal claim, speak to Eugene before you send your resignation letter. Getting the wording wrong can kill the claim.
The ET1 is your claim form. It sets out the facts of your case and the legal basis for your claim. Once submitted it is very difficult to amend. Common mistakes include failing to include all claims (unfair dismissal and discrimination claims must both be raised at this stage if you intend to pursue them), failing to quantify the loss correctly, and not providing enough factual detail to explain the sequence of events.
Eugene reviews ET1 forms before submission and provides written feedback identifying the gaps. This is one of the highest-value interventions available to a litigant in person because the ET1 shapes your entire case.
Ordinary unfair dismissal requires two years of continuous service. However, if you were dismissed for an automatically unfair reason — whistleblowing, pregnancy, asserting a statutory right, trade union membership — there is no qualifying period. Discrimination claims also have no service requirement. If you were dismissed before two years, do not assume you have no claim.
If you were selected for redundancy, the selection process must be fair and not discriminatory. If the redundancy situation itself was not genuine, or you were selected for an unfair reason, you may have an unfair dismissal claim. Employees on maternity leave have enhanced protection against redundancy selection. Eugene can advise on whether your redundancy was procedurally and substantively fair.
Book a free 20-minute call. Eugene will assess your position and tell you exactly what your claim is worth and what to do next.