5. Dismissal and detriment
Representatives are protected by law from dismissal and detriment for carrying out certain trade union duties.
This means an employer must not dismiss a representative, or cause them detriment, because they:
- carry out certain trade union duties
- stand for election or are appointed to the role
This right applies to representatives in certain roles.
Important: This is a preview of new advice. On 30 October 2026, it will replace the Acas booklet 'Trade union representation in the workplace'.
Dismissal
An employer must not dismiss a representative for carrying out their trade union duties. This would be 'automatically unfair dismissal'.
An employer should allow a representative to appeal a dismissal.
If the appeal is not successful, the representative can take it further. They might want to make a claim to an employment tribunal.
Find out more about unfair dismissal
Detriment
Detriment means a representative experiences one or both of the following:
- being treated worse than before
- having their situation made worse
Examples of detriment could be:
- they experience bullying
- they experience harassment
- their employer turns down their training requests without good reason
- they are overlooked for promotions or development opportunities
- their employer reduces their hours without good reason
If a representative experiences detriment, they should raise it with their employer. If this does not resolve the problem, they might be able to make a claim to an employment tribunal.