Reasonable investigation required before deciding to dismiss

Two recent cases bring into focus the requirement to undertake a reasonable investigation before dismissing an employee.

In Impact Recruitment Services v Korpysa, EAT, 11th February 2025, the Claimant was an agency worker whose host company no longer needed her services. The Claimant left the host company and the Respondent agency formed the mistaken belief that she had resigned. Accordingly, the agency dismissed the Claimant and sent her a P45.

The Employment Tribunal found the dismissal by the agency to be fair.

The EAT disagreed. Had the agency had a genuine, but misconceived, belief that the Claimant had resigned from the host company, this could have provided the agency with a defence to the subsequent unfair dismissal claim.  However, the agency had not investigated the circumstances around the Claimant’s departure from the host, and therefore it was unable to show that its belief in her resignation was founded on reasonable grounds.

The requirement on an employer to reach a conclusion that is reasonable in all the circumstances was further considered in Easton v Sec of State for the Home Department, EAT, 7th February 2025.  The Claimant, when applying for a job, neglected to fully particularise his application form. In particular, he missed out a three-month gap in his employment history which followed his dismissal from another Home Office department.

When the omission was discovered, the Respondent carried out a full and fair investigation, concluded that the omission was deliberate and dismissed the Claimant. The conclusion and dismissal were found to be reasonable and fair.

The learning point is that employers must undertake a reasonable investigation in order to form a genuine belief that the relevant circumstances justify dismissal. Failing to do so will result in an unfair dismissal.