UK bosses are increasingly implementing tactics associated with Alan Sugar with 8 in 10 admitting that they had dismissed employees illegally according to a new survey.

The findings made available by Employment law firm Peninsula also showed that 63% of workers claim to have been sacked without prior warning and chance to defend themselves.

Peninsula has alerted bosses to the risk that they find themselves taken to tribunal, Deb Gibbons Peninsula’s Head of Employee Relations points out:“I'm sure there is no doubt that Alan Sugar is a good employer but his lead by example on ‘The Apprentice’ may be seen as a bad example and is something I would advise employers not to do.  Dismissing workers without following proper procedures is without doubt not a good idea. The reason we conducted the research is because we found an increase in calls from employers to our legal advice line asking whether it was fine for them to dismiss "on the spot". The research showed that 8 in 10 bosses have at some stage followed Sir Alan’s example and fired without proper procedures. We’re not saying employers are in the habit of dismissing on the spot, but we do see it happen despite the number of laws in place to protect employee rights.”
 
“It's amazing that some employers, despite the age of protected employee rights, fire people on the spot. There are a number of reasons why, they can either be in a bad mood, or they just have a dislike for the individual, or when tempers boil, unfortunately what they are doing may be wrong. A disgruntled employee may decide to take their complaint to court and it could go very wrong for the employer resulting in substantial penalties imposed at a tribunal hearing.”