Qualifying For The Right To Not Be Unfairly Dismissed

You may often hear of someone waiting too long to bring a claim of unfair dismissal and then discovering the window of opportunity has passed, causing the claim to be "timebarred".

However, you rarely hear about not enough time passing before you can bring a claim.

Under Article 73(1) of the Employment (Jersey) Law 2003, the remedy of unfair dismissal is not available1 unless the employee has been continuously employed for 26 weeks "ending with the effective date of termination".

This means that, subject to being dismissed for specified reasons under the Law or being employed under a fixed term contract for 26 weeks or less, an employee cannot clam unfair dismissal if they have not been continuously employed for 26 weeks at the time of the effective date of termination (which takes into account the statutory minimum notice periods where notice is given).