For dismissal to be effective, the fact of dismissal must be communicated to the employee. Employers often do this in writing following a disciplinary hearing, but is this sufficient?

A recent Supreme Court decision illustrates the point. Mrs T was dismissed by letter. The letter was sent by recorded delivery; it was delivered to Mrs T’s home and was signed for by her son. Mrs T was away from home at the time but knew the letter had arrived.

The employer argued that the dismissal was effective from the date the letter was delivered as it claimed Mrs T could have asked her son to open it and read it to her over the telephone. The Supreme Court disagreed and held that the dismissal was not communicated and thus not effective until four days later, the date when Mrs T returned home and actually read the letter. Even though she was expecting the dismissal letter to arrive, the Supreme Court said that Mrs T could not be criticised for wanting the letter to remain unopened.

This case confirms that dismissal must be a two-way communication process in order to be effective; in other words the employee must be told in a face to face interview or have actually read the letter or email informing them of the dismissal. In the above case, had the employer phoned Mrs T to inform her that she was dismissed, the dismissal would have been effective from the time of that call.

The decision illustrates the danger of an employer communicating a dismissal by post. An employee could claim that the letter had been lost in the post or that he/she was on holiday or away from home. From this case it seems that if a dismissal letter is received by the employee the dismissal will not be effective until the employee opens and reads it.

Employers need to be aware that until dismissal is effectively communicated, employees must be paid wages and will be entitled to all other contractual benefits. It is therefore worth making sure that employees know they have been dismissed by informing them in a face to face meeting, telephoning them or requesting that they confirm receipt of a letter or email.

For information about this or any other aspect of employment law, contact Reggie Lloyd at Birkett Long LLP on 01206 217347 or email reggie.lloyd@birkettlong.co.uk