Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

This paper discusses recent developments in British employment law on wrongful discharge, including the procedure followed, measures of the process' performance, reasonableness under the law, the authority of decision makers in the British system, and the implications of this model for the United States.

British treatment of wrongful discharge now differs significantly from prevailing practice in the United States. A multistep review process has been established that uses arbitration by a tripartite panel to decide dismissal cases. Reinstatement and compensation awards are possible, and panel decisions are appealable to the courts. This system provides a forum to hear wrongful-discharge allegations, but, as the authors conclude, the manner in which the law has been applied makes the complainant success rate low. Though inferior to the arbitration process that union workers have in the United States, the British system establishes a level of review superior to that available to nonunionized American workers.