Unfair dismissal in the United Kingdom is the part of UK labour law that requires fair, just and reasonable treatment by employers in cases where a person's job could be terminated. The Employment Rights Act 1996 regulates this by saying that employees are entitled to a fair reason before being dismissed, based on their capability to do the job, their conduct, whether their position is economically redundant, on grounds of a statute, or some other substantial reason. It is automatically unfair for an employer to dismiss an employee, regardless of length of service, for becoming pregnant, or for having previously asserted certain specified employment rights. Otherwise, an employee must have worked for two years. This means an employer only terminates an employee's job lawfully if the employer follows a fair procedure, acts reasonably and has a fair reason. The Employment Tribunal will judge the reasonableness of the employer's decision to dismiss on the standard of a "band of reasonable responses" assessing whether the employer's decision was one which falls outside the range of reasonable responses of reasonable employers. History In 1968, Lord Donovan led the Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers' Associations. This recommended a statutory system of remedies for unfair dismissal. The recommendation was put into the Industrial Relations Act 1971. Exclusive jurisdiction to hear complaints and give remedies was conferred upon the newly created National Industrial Relations Court. The Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974 soon replaced the unfair dismissal provisions, as was the National Industrial Relations Court with a system of Industrial Tribunals, since renamed Employment Tribunals. Often a tribunal is composed of one legally qualified Employment Judge (formally a "chairperson") and two lay members, one from an employee friendly background (e.g. from a trade union) and the other from an employer friendly background. However, more recently straightforward claims, such as unlawful deduction from wages claims, are dealt with by an Employment Judge sitting alone. Unfair dismissal rights were recast in the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978. The present law is found in the Employment Rights Act 1996. Ridge v Baldwin [1964] AC 40, Lord Reid propounds the at will employment rule Malloch v Aberdeen Corp (No 1) [1971] 1 WLR 1578, on the right to be heard before dismissal Dismissal A dismissal may be lawful or wrongful (insufficient notice) at common law. It may or may not involve discrimination under statute. It may be