UK: employers should offer internal appeal against dismissal

The case of Afzal v East London Pizza Ltd t/a Dominos Pizza highlights the importance of offering a right of appeal against dismissal. In that case the employer was justified in urgently dismissing an employee for failure to provide evidence of his continued entitlement to work in the UK on the basis that it genuinely believed that his employment was illegal. However, the tribunal was wrong to conclude that the dismissal was necessarily fair, given the employer's failure to allow an appeal.  Had an appeal been offered, the employee would have had an opportunity to produce evidence of his right to work and the employer could then have rescinded the dismissal without fear of prosecution or penalty. The case was remitted to a fresh tribunal.