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Unfair Dismissal
December 2008
UNFAIR DISMISSAL – DON’T GET IT WRONG
You have probably had to deal with a whole host of personnel-related problems over the years and almost certainly play it by the book. However, even experienced employers can get it wrong. Here’s how it can happen.
Pushing the boundaries
This is what happened to one of our subscribers. An employee’s performance and attitude were deteriorating so she was spoken to by her boss. Six months previously she had suffered a miscarriage. Whilst this had clearly upset her, she had returned to work and seemed her usual self. Another “pull your socks up” conversation with her boss took place three days before she announced she was pregnant again.
Problems galore. Not only was her rate of work exceptionally slow but she was constantly late, because of traffic, and left early. She worked part time on Friday, Saturday and Sunday but made all her ante-natal appointments for Fridays. Apparently this was the only time her midwife ran the clinic. She would arrive at work at 9am/ / announce that she had to go to her ante-natal appointment and leave at 10am, not returning until lunchtime. There were eight people working at various times for the employer so her absence, at such short notice, caused real problems. When she took time off because of sickness she didn’t produce sick notes after seven days, claiming her doctor would not do one until she was better! The employer wrote to her asking for responses to various issues but she ignored the letters. She was finally disciplined but this made no difference.
Return to work
Following another period of sickness she was invited to a “return-to-work” meeting. This was not a disciplinary hearing and there was never any intention to dismiss or even discipline her. When her boss asked her to respond to the points raised previously regarding her attitude, timekeeping, performance etc, she just sat in the meeting smirking and simply told the manager to read a letter she had brought with her. Her boss was reluctant to do this but eventually agreed. She then went out of the office to read it. On returning she informed the employee that she had read the letter and did not like her accusative tone. She then sacked her!
What did it say
In the letter the employee had made a number of allegations, claiming that she had been discriminated against because of her sex and pregnancy. The employer had been pushed to the limit by this employee and she probably was not thinking straight when she returned to the meeting. But when she sacked her without following any sort of procedure, the damage was done.
Easy victory
The employee claimed unfair dismissal and discrimination. As far as the unfair dismissal was concerned, the employer held their hands up – they had got it completely wrong. But they strenuously denied any discrimination or victimisation. Unfortunately, they faced a real problem with this because they had admitted they did not intend to dismiss her at the return-to-work meeting. But her boss had read the allegations in her letter and then sacked her. Because of this the tribunal felt the letter was the actual reason for her dismissal and she won.
Tip. This case shows how important it is not to let emotions get in the way of sound decision-making. Always follow the proper procedures – no matter how much it pains you!
Some employees will push you to the limit and raise all sorts of spurious allegations. Do not get sucked in by it all or take it personally. Always follow a proper procedure, otherwise you might turn a safe dismissal into an unsafe one.
Source: Tips & Advice Personnel 11 December 2008
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