A second letter of dismissal can be effective to bring forward an employee's effective date of termination, in order to avoid accrual of qualifying service to bring an unfair dismissal claim.
Mr Harvey worked as a solicitor for PRH, and was advised orally and by letter that he was being dismissed for redundancy and that he was being let go early to avoid accrual of qualifying service to claim unfair dismissal. The first letter stated that his employment would end on 31 August 2010. The firm then realised that this would still entitle Mr Harvey to claim unfair dismissal, so a second letter was issued amending the date to 28 August 2010.