Another sacking in football management has been announced, this time Leicester City’s Craig Shakespeare. Only four months ago, Shakespeare was confirmed as a permanent appointment following the dismissal of Claudio Ranieri. Football club managers are employees too, so what rights do they have to claim unfair dismissal or breach of contract?
The usual two year rule applies, so that if a manager is dismissed within this period, he cannot claim unfair dismissal as a stand-alone claim. He could claim unfair dismissal if it were also alleged that the dismissal was discriminatory but so far, history has shown that no football manager has tried to sue for race, sex or age discrimination (there are several other protected characteristics too , including pregnancy – we are still waiting for the first female manager in the Premier or football league ).
As the compensation limit for unfair dismissal is only around £80, 000, those advising Mr Shakespeare will surely tell him not to bother and to focus instead on a claim for damages for breach of contract, given that he was the beneficiary of a three year fixed term contract. He will, therefore, be seeking a sum to reflect the salary he would have earned for the balance of that period as his sacking would not be for a reason which could be categorised as gross misconduct.
He was dismissed for poor performance which means he was still entitled to notice or pay in lieu or, in his case, as he was employed on a fixed term contract, an amount equivalent to salary for the rest of the contract term. Such fixed term contracts for more than 12 months are quite rare in normal employment but seem to be the accepted norm in football at the highest level.
Leicester City’s advisers will no doubt be in discussions with his solicitor to thrash out the terms of a Settlement Agreement which is designed to achieve a legal clean break to allow both parties to move on without having to embark upon litigation and such agreements are widely used by all employers to settle workplace disputes. The only differentiating factors will be the amount of compensation and a carefully worded confidentiality or gagging clause to prevent Mr Shakespeare from selling his story to the media.
We deal with Settlement Agreements at all levels and can advise on all aspects of employment law. Speak to our friendly employment team on 0113 320 5000 who can advise on your situation.
How much could you be entitled to? Work out your likely compensation award with our compensation calcuators.
