Do I have to give a reason for termination?

Employees with two or more years' continuous service have the right to request a written statement of reasons for dismissal. Employees dismissed during pregnancy or maternity leave are automatically entitled to written reasons regardless of length of service.

Can I dismiss an employee without notice?

Summary dismissal (without notice) is only justified in cases of gross misconduct. Even then, a fair investigation and disciplinary process must be followed. Dismissing without notice in other circumstances is likely to be both wrongful and potentially unfair dismissal.

What is payment in lieu of notice?

Payment in lieu of notice (PILON) is a lump sum paid to the employee instead of requiring them to work their notice period. It must be provided for in the employment contract to avoid a breach. PILON is subject to income tax and National Insurance contributions.

Can the employee appeal the termination?

Yes, the UK ACAS Code of Practice requires that British employees be given the right to appeal a dismissal decision. The appeal should ideally be heard by a more senior manager who was not involved in the original decision. The appeal may confirm, reduce, or overturn the dismissal under British employment law. England and Wales employment tribunals will scrutinise whether the right of appeal was offered and properly conducted.

What happens to accrued holiday pay on termination?

Under the UK Working Time Regulations 1998, British employees are entitled to be paid for any accrued but untaken statutory holiday when their employment ends in England and Wales. If the employee has taken more holiday than accrued, the employer may deduct the excess from final pay if the contract allows.

How should the termination letter be delivered?

The letter should be delivered in person during a face-to-face meeting where possible. If this is not feasible, it should be sent by recorded delivery to the employee's last known address. Keep proof of delivery for your records.

Can I terminate during a probationary period?

Yes, but a fair process should still be followed in the United Kingdom. During probation, the contractual notice period is often shorter. While statutory unfair dismissal protection under the UK Employment Rights Act 1996 generally requires two years' service, British employees can still claim wrongful dismissal or discrimination from day one under the Equality Act 2010.

EmploymentUnited Kingdom

Free Employee Termination Letter Template

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Meridian Digital Ltd

45 Fleet Street
London
EC4Y 1AA
Attn: Rachel Hughes

020 7946 3000

hr@meridiandigital.co.uk

2026-04-17

James Michael Hartley

12 Oak Lane
Manchester
M14 5RP
Employee No: MD-0842

Re: Termination of Employment — Marketing Manager

Last day of employment: 2026-05-10

Dear James Michael Hartley,

I am writing in accordance with sections 86 and 92 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 to confirm in writing the termination of your employment with Meridian Digital Ltd as Marketing Manager within the Brand and Growth department. The reason for termination is redundancy (ERA 1996 s.98(2)(c) / s.139).

REASON FOR TERMINATION

The decision to terminate your employment has been taken for the following reason: redundancy (ERA 1996 s.98(2)(c) / s.139). The Employer has concluded that the requirement for employees to carry out work of a particular kind has, or is expected to, cease or diminish within the meaning of section 139 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Business rationale: Following a strategic review completed in March 2026, the Brand and Growth marketing function is being restructured, reducing the Marketing Manager pool from four posts to two.. Your period of continuous service began on 2021-03-01 and will end on the last day of employment stated below (the "Effective Date of Termination" / EDT for the purposes of ERA 1996 s.97).

NOTICE AND LAST DAY OF EMPLOYMENT

You are required to work your notice period in full on your usual duties, reporting to your line manager. Your contractual notice period is 4 weeks. Your statutory minimum notice under ERA 1996 s.86 — one (1) week for completed service between one month and two years, and one (1) week per full year thereafter up to a maximum of twelve (12) weeks — shall apply where greater than the contractual notice period. Your last day of employment (the EDT) will be 2026-05-10.

FINAL PAY AND ENTITLEMENTS

Your final salary payment will be calculated up to and including the EDT and will comprise: (a) salary accrued to the EDT, (b) accrued but untaken statutory holiday under the Working Time Regulations 1998 regs 13-14 calculated on the basis of a week's pay under ERA 1996 ss.221-224, and (c) any contractual bonus or benefits due. Accrued holiday pay is £850.00. Your final pay will be paid on or before 2026-05-31.

Redundancy pay. You qualify for a statutory redundancy payment calculated under ERA 1996 s.162 (half/1/1.5 weeks' pay per year of service by age bracket, max 20 years, weekly-pay cap £700 for dismissals on or after 6 April 2024). Gross weekly pay for statutory purposes is £692.31. Statutory redundancy pay: £4,500.00. Under ITEPA 2003 ss.401-403, the first £30,000 of genuine redundancy compensation is tax-free; any amount above that threshold (and any PILON portion treated as PENP) is taxable under PAYE.

PROCESS AND INVESTIGATION SUMMARY

The Employer has followed a fair procedure in accordance with the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures (2015), having regard to the principles in Polkey v AE Dayton Services Ltd [1987] UKHL 8. Procedure followed: Individual redundancy consultation (ERA 1996 / ACAS Code). A summary of the process and findings is: Individual consultation meetings held on 12 March, 24 March and 2 April 2026; selection matrix (skills/performance/attendance/disciplinary) scored by two managers; alternative-employment search conducted across UK offices — no suitable role identified.. The Employer is conscious that unreasonable failure to follow the ACAS Code permits an Employment Tribunal to make a compensatory uplift of up to 25% under section 207A of TULRCA 1992.

RETURN OF COMPANY PROPERTY AND DATA

On or before the EDT you are required to return to the Employer all Company property in your possession or under your control, including (but not limited to): laptop, mobile phone, security pass, ID badge, keys, credit and purchase cards, vehicle (and keys), documents and all confidential information (whether in hard copy or stored electronically, including on personal devices — which must be deleted under supervision). Specific items: Dell XPS 15 laptop (asset tag MD-LAP-0842), iPhone 14 Pro (IMEI 354123456789012), access card (#2194), Amex corporate card (-5821). Non-return of property may result in lawful deduction from final pay, but only to the extent expressly authorised in writing or by your contract (ERA 1996 s.13).

CONFIDENTIALITY AND PROTECTION OF INFORMATION

You remain bound by the express and implied obligations of confidentiality under your contract of employment and under the common-law duty of fidelity. You must not use or disclose the Employer's confidential information (including customer data, pricing, business plans, trade secrets and proprietary know-how protected by the Trade Secrets (Enforcement, etc.) Regulations 2018) after the EDT, save as required by law or with the Employer's written consent. Breach may result in injunctive relief and damages.

POST-TERMINATION RESTRICTIONS

This letter formally reminds you that your contract of employment contains post-termination restrictive covenants. The non-solicitation / non-dealing restriction applies for 6 months from the EDT. Scope: Clients of Meridian Digital Ltd with whom you had material dealings in the 12 months before the EDT; and employees of the Employer in a senior-marketing role. The Employer considers these restrictions reasonable and necessary to protect legitimate business interests — customer connection, trade secrets and workforce stability — in accordance with the principles in Herbert Morris v Saxelby [1916] AC 688 and Tillman v Egon Zehnder [2019] UKSC 32. The Employer reserves the right to enforce these restrictions by injunction and/or damages and will, where appropriate, notify any future employer of the existence of these covenants. Any waiver must be in writing signed by an authorised signatory.

REFERENCES

In accordance with the Employer's standard reference policy, any reference provided to a prospective employer will be limited to confirming your dates of employment and job title. Such a reference will be factual and prepared with reasonable skill and care (Spring v Guardian Assurance plc [1995] 2 AC 296).

RIGHT OF APPEAL

You have the right to appeal this decision in accordance with the ACAS Code of Practice. Any appeal must be submitted in writing within 5 working days of receipt of this letter. Please address your appeal to Helen Murray, Chief People Officer, clearly stating the grounds of appeal. The appeal will be heard by a manager who has not been involved in the original decision. You have the right to be accompanied at the appeal hearing by a trade-union representative or fellow worker under section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999.

10.

DATA PROTECTION

The Employer will process your personal data in connection with the termination of your employment and the administration of final pay, benefits and references under the lawful bases of performance of contract, legal obligation and legitimate interests — Articles 6(1)(b), (c) and (f) of the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 (as amended by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025). Any special-category data (such as health data relating to sickness absence) will be processed on the conditions in Art.9(2) UK GDPR / DPA 2018 Sch 1 Pt 1. Where applicable, the Employer may also rely on the new "recognised legitimate interests" lawful basis at Annex 1 paragraph 1 to the DPA 2018 (as inserted by the DUA Act 2025). Employment records will be retained in accordance with the Employer's Data Retention Policy and thereafter deleted or anonymised. You may exercise your data-subject rights (access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection) by writing to the Data Protection Officer.

11.

EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT 2024 — STATUTORY UPDATES

The Employer acknowledges the staggered commencement of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (Royal Assent 2025). In particular: (a) from 1 October 2026, the Employment Tribunal time limit for most claims (including unfair dismissal under ERA 1996 s.111) is extended from three to six months from the Effective Date of Termination; (b) from 1 January 2027, unfair dismissal protection becomes a day-one right for new and existing employees (replacing the current 2-year qualifying period under ERA 1996 s.108), subject to a new statutory "initial period of employment" framework permitting a lighter-touch fair-procedure path for performance, conduct, capability and "some other substantial reason" dismissals during that period; (c) fire-and-rehire dismissals become automatically unfair (new s.104I-J ERA 1996) save in narrow financial-difficulty grounds; and (d) Statutory Sick Pay is payable from day 1 with the lower-earnings-limit removed (from 6 April 2026). Where any of the above is in force at the Effective Date of Termination, you may benefit from the additional protection.

12.

WORKER PROTECTION ACT 2023 — PREVENTATIVE DUTY

The Employer confirms its compliance with the proactive duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of workers, inserted as section 40A of the Equality Act 2010 by the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 (in force 26 October 2024). Where the circumstances of this dismissal involve any allegation of harassment of a sexual nature, or third-party harassment of which the Employer was or ought to have been aware, the Employer has had regard to its preventative duty under s.40A and the EHRC technical guidance. Nothing in this letter affects your right to make a protected disclosure under Part IVA of ERA 1996 (whistleblowing), or to bring any harassment / discrimination claim to the Employment Tribunal; an Employment Tribunal may, on any subsequent sexual-harassment claim, increase compensation by up to 25% for breach of the section 40A duty under Equality Act 2010 s.124A.

13.

AI / AUTOMATED DECISION-MAKING — DISMISSAL SAFEGUARDS

The Employer confirms that no decision producing legal or similarly significant effects has been taken solely by automated processing in arriving at the decision to dismiss, save where Article 22(2) UK GDPR permits and appropriate safeguards have been applied (Article 22 UK GDPR). Where AI or automated tools (including AI-assisted performance scoring, redundancy-selection matrices generated by algorithm, generative-AI investigation summarisation or attendance pattern analysis) have been used to inform any aspect of this decision, the Employer has applied human review and oversight. You may request meaningful information about the logic involved and the significance and envisaged consequences of any such processing under Articles 13(2)(f), 14(2)(g) and 15(1)(h) UK GDPR, and seek human review of any automated decision under Article 22(3) UK GDPR, having regard to the ICO's guidance on AI and data protection (2024).

14.

STATUTORY RIGHTS AND EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL ACCESS

The Employer has sought to ensure that this dismissal is lawful, fair and non-discriminatory under the Equality Act 2010. If you consider your dismissal to be unfair (ERA 1996 s.94), automatically unfair, discriminatory, or otherwise in breach of your employment rights, you may bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal. Time limits are strict: three (3) months less one day from the Effective Date of Termination (ERA 1996 s.111), subject only to mandatory ACAS Early Conciliation under section 18A of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996, which you must commence before issuing a claim. Contact ACAS on 0300 123 1100 or via acas.org.uk. Any purported agreement by you to waive statutory employment claims is void unless reached under an ACAS COT3 or a qualifying settlement agreement complying with ERA 1996 s.203(3) (in writing, identifying the particular complaints, with independent legal advice from a qualifying adviser covered by professional indemnity insurance).

If you have any questions in relation to this letter, please contact Rachel Hughes at hr@meridiandigital.co.uk. This letter constitutes the Employer's written statement of reasons for dismissal for the purposes of ERA 1996 s.92. I take this opportunity to thank you for your service with Meridian Digital Ltd and to wish you every success in your future career.

YOURS SINCERELY,

Rachel Hughes

HR Director for and on behalf of Meridian Digital Ltd

Date: ____________________

Available as a print-ready PDF or an editable Microsoft Word (.docx) file.

What Is an Employee Termination Letter?

An employee termination letter is a formal written notice from an employer to an employee confirming the end of their employment. It sets out the reason for termination, the effective date, notice period arrangements, and any final payments or obligations.

Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, employees who have been continuously employed for one month or more are entitled to receive a written statement of the reasons for their dismissal. This must be provided within 14 days of the request, or automatically in the case of employees dismissed during pregnancy or maternity leave.

A properly drafted UK termination letter demonstrates that the employer has followed a fair procedure, which is essential for defending potential unfair dismissal claims at a British employment tribunal in England and Wales.

What's Covered in This Template

Our employee termination letter template includes all the necessary sections for a lawful and professional dismissal notification.

Employee and Employer Details

Full names, addresses, job title, and employee reference number.

Reason for Termination

A clear statement of the reason for dismissal — conduct, capability, redundancy, illegality, or some other substantial reason.

Effective Date

The date on which employment will formally end.

Notice Period

Whether statutory or contractual notice is being given, or payment in lieu of notice is being offered.

Final Pay Details

Information about outstanding salary, accrued holiday pay, bonuses, and any deductions.

Return of Company Property

Instructions for returning equipment, keys, ID badges, and other company assets.

Ongoing Obligations

Reminders about confidentiality obligations, restrictive covenants, and data protection duties that survive termination.

Right of Appeal

Confirmation of the employee's right to appeal the decision and the process for doing so.

Reference Arrangements

Whether the employer will provide a reference and in what format.

Next Steps

Practical information about final day arrangements, exit interviews, and contact details for queries.

How to Create an Employee Termination Letter

Follow these steps to create a compliant termination letter using our template.

1
Enter Employee and Company Details
Fill in the employee's name, address, job title, and start date, along with the company name and the name of the person issuing the letter.
2
State the Reason for Termination
Provide a clear, factual explanation of why the employee is being dismissed. Reference the specific fair reason under the Employment Rights Act 1996 — conduct, capability, redundancy, illegality, or some other substantial reason.
3
Confirm Notice and Dates
Specify whether the employee will work their notice period, be placed on garden leave, or receive payment in lieu of notice. State the last working day and the effective termination date.
4
Detail Final Payments
List all final payments including outstanding salary, accrued holiday pay, any pro-rata bonus, and note any deductions that will be made from the final pay packet.
5
Review and Download
Preview the completed letter, ensure all details are accurate, and download it as a PDF. The letter should be delivered to the employee in person or by recorded delivery.

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Reviewed by Lawrence Finch · United Kingdom

Legal Considerations

Terminating an employee in England and Wales requires careful adherence to statutory and common law requirements.

This template is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified solicitor for advice specific to your situation.

Reviewed for England & Wales law

Fair Reasons for Dismissal

Under section 98 of the UK Employment Rights Act 1996, there are five potentially fair reasons for dismissal: capability or qualifications, conduct, redundancy, contravention of a statutory duty or restriction, and some other substantial reason. The British employer must also demonstrate that the dismissal was reasonable in all the circumstances, following a fair procedure.

Statutory Notice Periods

Under section 86 of the UK Employment Rights Act 1996, employees with one month to two years' service are entitled to at least one week's notice. After two years, the minimum is one week per year of service, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. Contractual notice may be longer. Payment in lieu of notice is permissible if provided for in the contract under English law.

Written Reasons for Dismissal

Employees with two or more years' service, or those dismissed during pregnancy or maternity leave, are entitled to a written statement of reasons for dismissal under section 92 of the UK Employment Rights Act 1996. The British employer must provide this within 14 days of request. Failure to do so can result in a UK tribunal award of two weeks' pay.

Unfair Dismissal and Procedural Fairness

To defend an unfair dismissal claim in the United Kingdom, the employer must show both a fair reason and a fair procedure. The ACAS Code of Practice should be followed for conduct and capability dismissals. Failure to follow the Code can result in an uplift of up to 25% on compensation. Employees can bring claims to a UK employment tribunal within three months of the effective date of termination.

Frequently Asked Questions

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