Policies & Procedures – the importance of
A recent case in the Employment Appeals Tribunal shows the importance of having policies and procedures in place and following them.
The Tribunal awarded an employee compensation of €94,000 for Unfair Dismissal when her previous employer dismissed her without any procedure whatsoever let alone any fair procedure.
Having been employed with the company for over 18 years, an employee was called to a meeting to be told she was dismissed with immediate effect and had 10 minutes to leave the building. The employee was handed a letter at this meeting which detailed her “Severance Agreement”, on provision she sign away her rights under the Unfair Dismissals legislation and also to state she had received legal advice.
When queried if the sum being offered was by way of redundancy, she was told “the company is not going down the redundancy route on this occasion.” The “Severance” amount she was offered was less than statutory redundancy. The employee did not accept the severance sum that was offered.
Within the same month as the employee’s dismissal, her position was advertised by the company but on a 12 month contract. She was never offered this as an option.
The employer had sought to replace the existing employees’ permanent position with an impermanent position without due consideration for the employee.
More information on this case can be found at: http://www.workplacerelations.ie/en.Cases/2015/June/UD1627_2013.html
Bright Contracts - Employment Contracts and Handbooks
