Guernsey: Termination of employment

Original and updating author: Rachel Guthrie, Mourant Ozannes

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Summary

• The main ways of terminating an employment contract are dismissal by the employer and resignation by the employee. (See General)
• The employer and employee are generally required to give minimum statutory notice of termination of employment. (See Notice periods)
• Employees have a statutory right not to be unfairly dismissed by their employer, and dismissal is fair only if it is on one of five grounds specified by statute, including capability, conduct and redundancy. (See Fair dismissal)
• Dismissals for certain specified reasons - such as trade union membership or on one of the protected grounds - are considered automatically unfair. (See Automatically unfair dismissal)
• An employee who is dismissed after at least one year's continuous service is entitled to be provided with a written statement of reasons for dismissal, on request. (See Statement of reasons for dismissal)
• There are no specific statutory procedures that must be followed before an employer dismisses an employee, but the employer must observe a fair and reasonable process. (See Dismissal procedures)
• There are no specific statutory provisions with regard to redundancies, for example in respect of redundancy payments, but an official code of practice provides guidance on relevant matters. (See Redundancy rights)
• There is no statutory retirement age and no legislation protecting employees against age discrimination. (See Termination on retirement)
• Eligible employees may bring a complaint of unfair dismissal against an employer at the Employment and Discrimination Tribunal, seeking compensation. (See Claiming unfair dismissal)
• Employees who believe that they have been wrongfully dismissed in breach of their employment contract may bring proceedings against the employer for damages. (See Wrongful dismissal)