I was dismissed for gross misconduct, can I appeal?

Gross misconduct is conduct so serious that it is treated as fundamentally incompatible with continued employment — for example, theft, violence, serious dishonesty, gross insubordination, or serious health and safety breaches. Where gross misconduct is established, an employer can dismiss summarily (without notice), but this does not mean the dismissal is automatically fair.

For a gross misconduct dismissal to be fair under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (for employees with two or more years' service), the employer must show: (1) they genuinely believed the employee was guilty; (2) that belief was based on reasonable grounds following a reasonable investigation; and (3) dismissal was within the range of reasonable responses (the "band of reasonable responses" test from Iceland Frozen Foods v Jones [1983]).

The ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures must be followed. This includes: a thorough investigation; a disciplinary meeting at which you are given a fair opportunity to respond; the right to be accompanied; and the right to appeal.

Failure to follow the Code does not automatically make the dismissal unfair, but the tribunal can uplift any compensation award by up to 25% for unreasonable failure to follow it.

In your appeal, you should: identify any procedural failings (insufficient investigation, failure to put specific allegations, failure to allow you to challenge evidence); challenge the finding itself if it is wrong; and argue that dismissal was disproportionate even if some misconduct is accepted. An appeal is a genuine second chance and is sometimes upheld.