Key Facts at a Glance
- Injury claim deadline
- 3 years
- from the accident date
- Tribunal deadline
- 3 months
- less one day, from dismissal
- Service needed
- 2 years
- 6 months from Jan 2027
- Upfront cost
- £0
- No Win No Fee
Solicitor at Claim Time Solicitors, Birmingham. Acts for injured people in workplace accident and employer liability claims across the West Midlands and the rest of the UK.
Having an accident at work is not, by itself, a lawful reason to sack anyone. If you are dismissed because you raised a health and safety concern, the dismissal is automatically unfair under section 100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, and you can bring a tribunal claim from your first day in the job. Your employer can still dismiss you fairly on capability grounds if an injury leaves you genuinely unable to do the work, but only after obtaining medical evidence, consulting you and considering adjustments. Those two situations look similar from the outside and are treated very differently by a tribunal.
Most people who ask whether they can be sacked for having an accident at work are asking it in the middle of something. The injury is recent, the sick note has been sent, and the atmosphere at work has changed. The worry is rarely about the law in the abstract. It is about whether the job will still be there.
The honest answer has two halves. Nobody can lawfully dismiss you as a punishment for being injured or for raising a safety problem, and the protection against that starts on day one. But an employer is not barred from ever ending your employment after an injury. If you genuinely cannot do the job any more, dismissal on capability grounds can be fair, provided a proper process is followed. Knowing which of those you are actually facing tells you what to do next.
This guide sets out both sides, the warning signs to watch for, the deadlines that apply, and what has already changed under the Employment Rights Act 2025 as well as what changes on 1 January 2027.
Can your employer sack you for having an accident at work?
Not for the accident itself. An accident is not misconduct and it is not a fair reason for dismissal. Where employers get into difficulty is dismissing someone for complaining about the conditions that caused it, or dismissing for long term ill health without following a proper process.
Workplace injuries are common enough that most employers have dealt with them before. The Health and Safety Executive recorded 59,219 employee injuries reported under RIDDOR in 2024/25, alongside an estimated 680,000 workers who self-reported a non-fatal injury through the Labour Force Survey. Roughly 40.1 million working days were lost across Great Britain that year to work-related illness and injury combined.
The gap between those two numbers matters. Far more people are hurt at work than are formally reported, which means a large share of injured workers never get a written record made in the first place. That record is exactly what protects you later.
Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, your employer has a duty to protect your health and safety at work so far as is reasonably practicable. An accident that happens because that duty was not met is the employer’s problem, not yours. Dismissing you for it would mean punishing you for their failure, which is why tribunals look closely at the real reason behind any dismissal that follows an injury.
Definition
A dismissal for a reason the law treats as unlawful in itself, such as raising a health and safety concern. No minimum length of service is needed, and the tribunal does not weigh up whether the employer acted reasonably. If the reason is proved, the dismissal is unfair.
When dismissal after a work accident is automatically unfair
Dismissal for raising a health and safety concern, for acting as a safety representative, or for leaving a workplace you reasonably believed was seriously and imminently dangerous, is automatically unfair under section 100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. There is no qualifying period of service.
Section 100 is the provision that matters most after a workplace injury. It protects employees dismissed for health and safety reasons, and unlike ordinary unfair dismissal, it applies from your first day of employment. It covers several situations, including where you carried out or proposed to carry out designated health and safety activities, where you brought a genuine concern about a hazard to your employer’s attention, and where you left or refused to return to a place of work you reasonably believed presented serious and imminent danger.
That is often the position an injured worker is in without realising it. You are hurt because a machine guard was missing or a walkway was flooded; you say so, and the relationship cools from that point. If the complaint was the real reason for your dismissal, section 100 is engaged.
Other protections that apply from day one
- Disability discrimination. If your injury meets the Equality Act 2010 definition of a disability, dismissing you because of something arising from it may be unlawful discrimination, and your employer has a duty to make reasonable adjustments. No qualifying service is needed.
- Asserting a statutory right. Section 104 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 covers dismissal for asserting certain statutory employment rights, again with no qualifying period.
- Whistleblowing. A protected disclosure about a health and safety danger can bring you within the whistleblowing provisions, which carry uncapped compensation.
Section 104 protects the assertion of specific statutory employment rights listed in the legislation. A personal injury claim is a civil court claim rather than one of those listed rights, so it does not automatically bring you within section 104 on its own. Where an injured worker is dismissed after speaking up, the stronger route is usually section 100 or the Equality Act 2010. This is a point worth taking advice on early, because it decides which claim you bring.
When an employer can still dismiss you fairly after an injury
Capability. If an injury genuinely prevents you doing your job and there is no reasonable prospect of return, dismissal can be fair under section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The employer must obtain proper medical evidence, consult you, and consider adjustments and alternative roles first.
This is the part most articles on this subject leave out, and leaving it out does injured workers no favours. Capability is one of the potentially fair reasons for dismissal under section 98, and capability is defined by reference to health as well as skill and aptitude. An employer facing a long-term absence with no clear endpoint can lawfully terminate the employment, provided they do so properly.
Getting there properly means something specific. A tribunal will expect to see that the employer obtained up-to-date medical evidence about your prognosis, consulted you and listened to what you said, considered whether adjustments or a different role would let you return, and only then reached a decision. Skipping any of those steps is where capability dismissals fail.
| Reason given | Likely position | Service needed | What decides it |
|---|---|---|---|
| You reported an unsafe practice | Automatically unfair | None | Was the complaint the principal reason |
| You refused to work in serious danger | Automatically unfair | None | Was your belief reasonable at the time |
| Injury amounts to a disability | Possible discrimination | None | Adjustments considered and justified |
| Long term sickness, proper process | Can be fair | 2 years | Medical evidence and consultation |
| Long term sickness, no process | Likely unfair | 2 years | Absence of evidence and consultation |
| Sudden redundancy after your claim | Open to challenge | 2 years | Whether redundancy was genuine |
Service requirement for ordinary unfair dismissal falls to six months for dismissals taking effect on or after 1 January 2027. Every case turns on its own facts and this table is a general guide, not advice on your situation.
What changes on 1 January 2027
The qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal drops from two years to six months, and the cap on the compensatory award is removed entirely. Both apply where the dismissal takes effect on or after 1 January 2027.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. The commencement regulations, SI 2026/559, confirm that the unfair dismissal changes take effect on 1 January 2027. Two of them matter directly if you have been injured at work.
First, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal falls from two years to six months. Anyone with at least six months’ continuous service on that date gains protection. Throughout 2026, the two-year period still applies, so where you stand today depends on when your employment actually ends.
Second, the cap on the compensatory award goes. For dismissals taking effect between 6 April 2026 and 31 December 2026, the compensatory award is limited to the lower of £123,543 or 52 weeks’ gross pay, and the cap on a week’s pay is £751. From 1 January 2027, the statutory cap is removed, and tribunals can award the full assessed loss.
One detail is easy to miss and works in favour of injured workers now. The compensatory cap does not apply where the dismissal was for whistleblowing or for raising certain health and safety issues. A section 100 dismissal already carries uncapped compensation, and the minimum basic award for those dismissals rose to £9,157 from 6 April 2026.
If you have between six months and two years’ service and are dismissed during 2026, an ordinary unfair dismissal claim is not open to you. The day one routes still are: section 100 health and safety dismissal, disability discrimination, and whistleblowing. Those are often the stronger claims anyway, because they carry no compensation cap.
Do not assume you have no case because you have been there less than two years. That assumption stops more valid claims than any legal test does. The date your employment ends is what fixes which rules apply, so it is worth getting advice before you agree to any termination date.
Signs your employer is treating you unfairly after an injury
Watch for changes that follow the injury or the complaint rather than anything you have done: work being withdrawn, sudden performance criticism, pressure to drop a claim, or exclusion from decisions you were part of before.
Dismissal is not the only thing the law protects against. Detriment short of dismissal is also unlawful where it follows a health and safety complaint, and it is far more common. It also tends to be the earlier warning sign.
- Work quietly withdrawn. Shifts cut, duties reassigned, or projects handed to someone else without explanation.
- Performance suddenly in question. Criticism about work that was never raised before the accident, or a review brought forward.
- Pressure over your claim. Being asked to drop it, being told it will affect the team, or being offered something in return for dropping it.
- Exclusion. Left out of meetings, group messages or planning you were previously included in.
- Return to work handled badly. No occupational health referral, no discussion of adjustments, or being told to come back before you are medically fit.
Keep a dated note of anything like this as it happens, with names and what was said. Contemporaneous notes carry real weight at a tribunal, and they are almost impossible to reconstruct convincingly months later.
What to do if you have been dismissed after an accident at work
Request the reason for dismissal in writing, notify Acas to start early conciliation, and take advice quickly. The tribunal deadline is three months less one day from the date your employment ended.
The employment tribunal deadline is short and it is enforced strictly. You must notify Acas of your dispute before you can lodge a claim, which pauses the clock while early conciliation runs, but the underlying limit is three months less one day from the effective date of termination.
- 1Get the reason in writing Days 1 to 7
Ask your employer to confirm the reason for dismissal in writing. What they commit to on paper is what they will have to defend later.
- 2Gather your documents Days 1 to 14
Contract, payslips, sick notes, the accident book entry, occupational health reports, and any emails or messages about the injury or your complaint.
- 3Appeal internally Within the policy deadline
Use the appeal process in your contract or staff handbook. Failing to appeal can reduce any award later.
- 4Notify Acas Before 3 months less 1 day
Early conciliation is a required step before a tribunal claim can be lodged. Notifying Acas pauses the limitation clock.
- 5Take legal advice As early as possible
Your injury claim and any tribunal claim are separate, run to different deadlines, and are often best progressed together.
A warehouse operative in the West Midlands reports a damaged pallet truck, is injured using it two weeks later, and is dismissed during their probation period for what the employer calls attitude. Because they have under two years’ service, they assume nothing can be done. In fact the earlier safety report is the point that matters: a section 100 claim needs no qualifying service. This is a composite illustration of a common pattern rather than an account of any individual client.
Sick pay and money while you are off work
Statutory Sick Pay is now payable from the first day of sickness absence. The three waiting days and the lower earnings limit were both removed on 6 April 2026. SSP is paid at £123.25 a week or 80% of your normal weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
The SSP rules changed significantly on 6 April 2026 under the Employment Rights Act 2025, implemented by SI 2026/210. Three things are different from the position most guidance still describes.
- No waiting days. SSP is payable from the first qualifying day of absence rather than the fourth.
- No lower earnings limit. Eligibility no longer depends on earning above a threshold, which brings in many part time, lower paid and variable hours workers who were previously excluded.
- A new rate calculation. SSP is the lower of the flat rate of £123.25 a week or 80% of your normal weekly earnings.
Check your contract as well. Many employers offer contractual sick pay above the statutory minimum, and some occupational schemes pay full salary for a set period after a workplace accident. Where SSP leaves a shortfall, lost earnings can form part of a personal injury claim against your employer.
Two separate claims you may be able to make
An injury claim in the civil courts against your employer’s insurer, and an employment tribunal claim about the dismissal. They are separate processes with different deadlines and can run alongside each other.
People often assume there is one claim covering everything. There are usually two, and confusing them causes missed deadlines.
| Comparison point | Personal injury claim | Employment tribunal claim |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | Pain, suffering, lost earnings, treatment and care costs | Loss flowing from the dismissal itself |
| Deadline | 3 years from the accident | 3 months less one day from dismissal |
| Decided by | County Court or the Official Injury Claim portal | Employment tribunal |
| Paid by | Employer liability insurer | The employer |
| Funding | No Win No Fee available | Depends on the claim, ask us |
On the injury side, general damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity are assessed against the Judicial College Guidelines, 18th edition, published on 9 April 2026, with an inflationary uplift of around 8.26% on the previous edition. Special damages cover financial losses you can evidence, including lost earnings, travel to treatment and care provided by family.
Ranges vary widely by injury and prognosis, so any figure quoted without a medical report is guesswork. For an indication based on your own circumstances, the compensation estimate tool gives a starting point, and our page on making a claim for an injury sustained at work sets out how the process runs.
On funding, most injury claims are run under a Conditional Fee Agreement. If the claim does not succeed and you have complied with the agreement, you pay nothing for our work. If it does succeed, the success fee is capped at 25% of your damages for pain, suffering and past losses, excluding damages for future care and loss.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I be sacked for having an accident at work?
Can I be dismissed while off sick after an accident at work?
I have worked here less than two years. Do I have any protection?
How long do I have to bring a claim?
Will making an injury claim damage my relationship with my employer?
Am I entitled to sick pay after an injury at work?
Can I still claim if the accident was partly my fault?
Usually yes. Where you share some responsibility, the principle of contributory negligence reduces the award by an agreed or assessed percentage rather than removing the claim. Employers frequently argue contributory negligence, and it is often reduced or dropped once the full circumstances are examined, particularly where training or supervision was inadequate.
Summary
Having an accident at work does not give your employer a reason to dismiss you, and if the real reason for a dismissal is that you raised a health and safety concern, the law treats it as automatically unfair from your first day in the job. That protection sits alongside the Equality Act 2010 where an injury amounts to a disability, and the whistleblowing provisions where a disclosure was made.
What the law does not do is prevent every dismissal that follows an injury. Where someone genuinely cannot do the work any more, a capability dismissal can be fair, but only where the employer obtained medical evidence, consulted properly and looked seriously at adjustments. Most disputes turn on whether that happened rather than on the injury itself.
Key takeaways
- An accident at work is not misconduct and is not a fair reason for dismissal on its own
- Section 100 health and safety dismissals need no qualifying service and carry uncapped compensation
- A capability dismissal can be fair, but only with medical evidence, consultation and adjustments considered
- From 1 January 2027, the unfair dismissal qualifying period falls to six months, and the compensation cap is removed
- The tribunal deadline is three months less one day; the injury claim deadline is three years
- SSP has been payable from day one, with no lower earnings limit, since 6 April 2026
Sources & References
- Health and Safety Executive, Health and safety statistics, key figures for Great Britain 2024/25.
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, s.2.
- Employment Rights Act 1996, s.100, health and safety cases.
- Employment Rights Act 1996, s.98, fairness and capability.
- Employment Rights Act 2025, s.25, and the Commencement No. 4 and Transitional and Saving Provisions Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/559)
- The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2026 (SI 2026/310), effective 6 April 2026
- The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Statutory Sick Pay) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/210), effective 6 April 2026
- Equality Act 2010, ss.15, 20 and 21, discrimination arising from disability and reasonable adjustments
- Acas, early conciliation and the Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures
