MOST employers are aware of the need to follow a fair process before dismissing an employee.

What then of the recent dispute at Total UK, where some 650 employees involved in wildcat strike action were dismissed with apparent impunity?

The law in respect of industrial action dismissals can appear draconian – or perhaps Dickensian – compared to many 21st-century employment rights.

It is also a legal minefield and the consequences of getting it wrong can be severe.

If the action is official and protected, dismissal of an employee for participating in the action within its first eight weeks will be automatically unfair, and dismissal after the first eight weeks may still be unfair.

The Total employees were participating in unofficial industrial action, where employee rights are at their lowest ebb, which is why Total were able to dismiss in the manner they did.

Though, just because you can do something does not mean that you should, and dismissal for taking part in industrial action is very much the “nuclear option”.

It is hardly conducive to good industrial relations, as Total are now finding out as they appear to have been dragged back to the negotiating table, even though they were legally entitled to act as they did.