Grounds for dismissal?

Hi,

You would have to take legal advice before dismissing anyone.

On the face of it, it sounds reasonable, but your procedures have to be fair. You would have to have a formal meeting to discuss it and you would have to give them a chance to air their side of the story. You would probably have to give the person a written warning that this was unacceptable and if it occurs again they will be fired.

Does the person have a contract of employment? Do you have disciplinary procedures in writing?

I would guess that the Employment Appeals Tribunal would probably have sympathy with the employer but would decide that dismissing them was unwarranted.

Brendan

Firstly it depends on the length of service of the employee. If the employee has more than 1 year's service he can take a case under the Unfair Dismissals Act to the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT). The EAT would not consider this justifiable grounds for dismissal. He should certainly be given a verbal or a written warning however. This would depend on the precise circumstances.

If he has less than 1 year's service, he can take a case for unfair dismissal under the Industrial Relations Act, to the Labour Court. The burden of proof on the employer as well as the potential amounts awarded are considerably less. Nonetheless it is unlikely that failure to notify work of absence for more than a week would be considered a justifiable cause for dismissal under this act either.

What is a seriously unrealistic excuse. If his reason meant he simply could not call in or had other things on his mind(such as, death in family) then it may change the situation and require some compassionate consideration.