A report has today stated that the archaic management style adopted by Sir Alan, on his TV show, ‘The Apprentice’, has landed thousands of employers in expensive employment tribunal actions. Sir Alan is famed for telling contestants 'You're Fired' instead of going through the correct legal process. Sacked workers can take their bosses to court and claim unfair dismissal if certain procedures are not taken when terminating employment.

Figures from the Employment Tribunals Service (ETS) show that since 2004 when the show first aired, the number of employment tribunal claims has jumped by a 25 per cent.

In 2004/05, there were 86,181 registered employment tribunal claims, while last year, there were more than 115,000.

Dan Chapman,  Head of Leathes Prior's Employment Team, believes that the wave of copycat bosses has lead to a large increase in legal action. Dan commented that "It has become apparent in the last year or two,  despite the overwhelming increase in legal procedure that an employer should follow in order to lawfully dismiss an employee,  that some employers are ignoring basic legal requirements in favour of the macho style sackings.   For those employers it can transpire to be a costly mistake!   Alan Sugar might be able to fire his contestants without reproach,  but employers should not follow suit!"

For advice on handling the dismissal of an employee please contact Dan on 01603 610911 or email him on dchapman@leathesprior.co.uk