Dismissed After an Accident at Work, What To Do? – View Information My Legal Rights Guide

Accident At Work Claims Advice
Accident At Work Claims Advice

The law protects you from being dismissed from work if you seek compensation for a workplace accident that left you suffering from an injury. Should your employer even threaten you with dismissal or redundancy because you intend on filing an accident at work claim against them, they would be in breach of UK law. An employer must have another valid reason for sacking you and if they do not, it could entitle you to seek further compensation from them by filing an unfair dismissal claim as well as an accident at work claim.

For more information on dismissed after an accident at work and what to do, please read on.

What Laws Protect Me From Being Dismissed After an Accident at Work?

There are several laws that protect you in the workplace which employers must respect. On top of this, there are Health and Safety regulations which must be implemented in the workplace to reduce the risk of harm and injury coming to you and your fellow employees. You also have worker’s rights under the Employment Rights Act 1996.

The Act covers dismissal from work which includes “notice and reason” for losing your job. Section 86 of the Act stipulates that you must be given “reasonable notice” if an employer wants to terminate your employment contract and it is important to note that this applies to both an employer and employees. With this said, the length of time that “reasonable notice” would entail, depends on the length of time you worked for an employer. If you have only been working for a short period of time for an employer, an acceptable notice period would be one week. However, if you were employed for over 2 years, reasonable notice would be 2 weeks and after 3 years, the notice period would be 3 weeks with the maximum being 12 weeks’ notice. An employer also has the option to pay you in lieu of notice providing this is set out in your contract of employment.

When it comes to unfair dismissal, under section 94 of the Act, an employer cannot dismiss you unfairly and is obliged to provide a valid reason for doing so. There are several situations where dismissals are automatically deemed unfair which are as follows:

  • If there are health and safety concerns
  • Where assertion of statutory rights are involved
  • When requests for flexible working hours are involved

Where a dismissal would be deemed valid/fair is concerned, the following would apply:

  • Where an employee’s qualifications/capability to do specific work for which they were employed is in question
  • Where the conduct of an employee is in question
  • Where an employee is retiring
  • Where an employee was no longer needed
  • Where an employee was unable to continue working in a position held without “contravention of a restriction or a duty which is imposed by or which is under an enactment”

It is also worth noting that your employer has a right to dismiss you under section 98 (1) for another substantial reason. You cannot be made redundant after an accident at work either without a good reason which includes your employer being able to prove that your job has become obsolete. If your employer threatens you in any way following an accident in the workplace in which you suffered an injury, you should contact a lawyer at www.accidentclaims.co.uk who would quickly be able to establish whether their actions are indeed unlawful and whether this could entitle you to pursue further legal action against your employer.

What Should I Do if Injured in an Accident in the Workplace?

If you suffer an injury in the workplace, you should follow the procedure as set out by your employer. However, the first thing to do is seek medical attention which you can do either by going to the designated first aid officer for initial treatment before going to the Accident and Emergency department, or if your workplace injuries are severe, you should go straight to hospital to be treated as a matter of urgency.

Accident At Work Claims Advice
Accident At Work Claims Advice

Once you are able to, you must ensure that the following has been done:

  • That the incident and your injuries were reported to the person in charge/the employer
  • That the accident was correctly recorded in the work’s Accident Book. If the place where you work does not operate an Accident Book, you can either send your employer a personal email or you can opt to send them a registered letter that provides essential information regarding the workplace accident that left you injured
  • Take photos of where the accident occurred and of any machinery, equipment or tools you were operating at the time (if applicable)
  • If there is CCTV footage, request a copy which your employer must provide in a timely manner
  • Get photos of the workplace injuries you suffered
  • Get a medical report either from the doctor who treated you in hospital, or from your GP, or from another medical professional
  • Contact a personal injury solicitor who would assess whether your claim against an employer would be valid

If you suffered very severe workplace injuries which means you are unable to report the incident yourself, you have the right to request that a trusted person does this for you. You also have the right to correct any information that is incorrect when you are able to and should do so before signing any report.

What Steps Should I Take After Suffering an Injury in a Work-related Accident?

As previously mentioned, you must seek medical attention if you are injured in the workplace whether you want to seek compensation from an employer or not. You may at a later date decide to file an accident at work claim and a medical report is key to proving that you suffered your injuries in the workplace and would be used to calculate the level of general damages you could receive in a successful claim against an employer.

The medical report would also be required should you wish to claim any benefits you may be entitled to receive if you have to take time off work to recover from the workplace injuries you suffered. Without a medical report, your employer may not want to accept responsibility and may argue that your version of the incident is incorrect.

If you feel that the work environment is unsafe, you should also contact the Health and Safety Executive and if you are a member of a trade union, you should also get in touch with your representative to discuss your concerns. It is worth noting that you have the right to do so and to refuse to work in any environment that you deem to be unsafe.

Should your employer threaten you with the sack or they fire you following an accident in the workplace in which you were injured, you should contact a solicitor because your employer’s actions and behaviour towards you may entitle you to seek further compensation from them by filing other claims. This includes an unfair dismissal claim.

What Should I Avoid Doing If I am Dismissed After a Work-related Accident?

There are specific things you must not do following an accident at work in which you sustained an injury. You may find that your employer tries to persuade you to accept responsibility for the injury you suffered but you should not do any of the following no matter how much pressure an employer puts on you:

Never sign anything that could be seen as your admission of liability even if your employer tells you that if you do not, your job may be in jeopardy. It is worth noting that should an employer apply pressure to you signing anything that could be construed as an admission of responsibility, a court or tribunal may disregard this because of the pressure you were put under by your employer

A responsible employer would not consider firing you or threatening you after an accident at work because they know that this could put them in breach of the law if they cannot show another good and valid reason for doing so.

Can I Seek Legal Advice if I Am Dismissed After an Accident at Work?

You have the right to seek legal advice from a solicitor if you are dismissed after an accident at work that leaves you suffering from an injury no matter how minor or severe the symptoms may be. An employer cannot prevent you from contacting a lawyer who specialises in employment law if you feel threatened or intimidated in any way because one of your worker’s rights under the Employment Act is to file an unfair dismissal claim against an employer if they cannot show another valid reason for having sacked you other than the fact you filed a personal injury claim against them.

You can either contact a personal injury solicitor at www.accidentclaims.co.uk or Citizens Advice if you were dismissed after a workplace accident. A solicitor would offer you a no obligation, free, initial consultation to establish whether your case is valid and when they determine that it is, they would offer you No Win No Fee terms when representing you.

Are There Any Benefits to Getting Legal Advice If I Am Dismissed After an Accident at Work?

Unfair dismissal claims tend to be complex legal processes with many employers choosing to deny that they fired employees just because they filed work-related personal injury claims against them. As such, seeking legal advice and representation can make the whole process easier to understand and the chances of success are greatly increased. Some of the benefits that a solicitor who specialises in employment law would provide when you make an unfair dismissal claim would include the following:

  • A personal injury lawyer would ensure that you are examined by an independent specialist/consultant and the medical report they produce would be used as a basis for your case and to calculate the level of compensation you would receive
  • A solicitor has vast experience in dealing with unfair dismissal claims and once satisfied that your case against an employer is strong, they would act on your behalf by contacting your employer and their insurers notifying them of your intentions to pursue an unfair dismissal claim against them through the courts if necessary
  • The solicitor acting on your behalf would enter into negotiations with an employer’s insurers with an end goal being to agree a settlement without the need of going to court. If this cannot be achieved, a solicitor would then recommend that you pursue your case through the courts and would handle all aspects of the process on your behalf, bearing in mind that should your case go before a judge, you may have to attend

Personal injury lawyers have years of experience when it comes to representing clients who suffered injuries in the workplace through employer negligence and who were dismissed from their jobs because they filed accident at work claims. Solicitors are also well aware that pre-action protocols and the statutory time limit of 3 years must be respected for a claim to be upheld. In short, solicitors are aware of the legal pitfalls that could result in a claim be dismissed if any rules that apply to work-related personal injury claims are not respected.

Would A Personal Injury Lawyer Offer Me No Win No Fee Terms if I File an Unfair Dismissal Claim?

A personal injury solicitor would offer free legal advice when you first contact them by offering you an initial consultation and you would not be obliged to pursue a case if you don’t want to. This first consultation allows the solicitor the opportunity to assess whether your employer acted unlawfully and in breach of your worker’s rights under the Employment Act. Once satisfied this to be the case, the solicitor would offer you No Win No Fee terms when acting on your behalf whether your case goes to court or not.

A Conditional Fee Agreement allows a solicitor to work on your case without having to ask you to pay them an upfront fee to do so. The agreement is a legal contract between a personal injury lawyer and yourself and it is a binding agreement that sets out how much you would have to pay for the legal representation the solicitor provided. This is referred to as a “success fee” which is only payable when you win your claim, should you lose your unfair dismissal claim against an employer, there would nothing to pay the solicitor who acted on your behalf because they entered into a Conditional Fee Agreement with you.

Informative Links

If you would like more in-depth information regarding your rights after an accident at work that left you suffering from an injury, the following link provides essential reading:

More information on your rights following an accident at work

If you were dismissed from work because you file a personal injury claim for compensation from your employer and you would like more information regarding employment law, please follow the link provided below:

Employment law in the UK

To find out more information regarding an employer’s duty of care towards you and your fellow employees, please click on the link below;

An employer’s duty of care in the workplace

Accident At Work Claims Advice
Accident At Work Claims Advice