ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the reasons by which the employer may fairly dismiss an employee. Until the Industrial Relations Act 1971 created the concept of unfair dismissal, the law took no account of the employer's reasons for dismissing his employee, nor, unless there was a failure to follow contractual procedures. Ill-health, whether short- or long-term, comes within the general umbrella of incapability, as it causes the employee to be incapable of carrying out his work, either completely or to a satisfactory standard, and whether temporarily or permanently. The employee owes a duty of loyalty to his employer and, should he act disloyally, he will be in breach of contract. Disloyalty may take a number of forms. An employee's lack of qualifications for a particular position is argued relatively seldom by employers, although there is a potential overlap with two other potentially fair reasons for dismissal.
