€30,000 Awarded to employee dismissed during probation
If an employee has less than one year of service with an employer they are not protected under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977-2007. In spite of this, all employees are entitled to natural justice and fair procedures, which makes dismissing an employee whilst on probation less straightforward than it may seem. This is evident in this case where a former General Secretary of the Irish Postmaster Union was awarded €30,000 for being unfairly dismissal during his 6 months probationary period.
Background
The employee commenced working for the Irish Postmaster Union in August 2009 and was advised that he was on a probationary period for 6 months. In October 2009 he had his first performance review and in January 2010 he had his second performance review. Towards the end of January, the employee was informed that there were reservations regarding his performance and that this probation period was to be extended for a further 3 months. The employee wrote a letter to his employer expressing his concerns regarding this and was subsequently dismissed and paid 3 months’ salary in lieu of notice.
Findings
The court found that the employer had failed to “adhere to either its own disciplinary procedures or be bound by the provisions of the Code of Practice on Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures S.I. No 146 of 2000 because he was on probation, was misconceived”. The employee was awarded €30,000 for unfair dismissal on top of the 3 months’ salary he was paid in lieu of notice.
Learning Points
Employers must be aware that although the employee is not protected by the Unfair Dismissals Act, that they can still make a claim for unfair dismissal under the Industrial Relations Act, 1969. It is advisable for an employer to include a probationary clause in their employee’s contract of employment, and if they wish to dismiss an employee during the probation period that they should exercise fair procedures.
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2013 SFA Awards
We told you in December how, much to our delight, we had been shortlisted as a finalist in the 2013 SFA Awards, “Innovator of the Year” category directly resulting from our innovation in software development. This was in no small part attributable to our new dynamic software, BrightPay and Bright Contracts.
The final winner of the category was Megazyme, who were also announced as the overall winner of the awards.
Megazyme is a biotechnology company which employs 34 people and is involved in the development of analytical test kits and reagents for the agricultural, food, wine, dairy and biotechnology industries.
We extend our congratulations and good wishes for their continued success.
Bright Contracts – Employment contracts and handbooks
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Bright Contracts is category finalist in Meath Business and Tourism Awards
We attended the awards ceremony last night in the Pillo Hotel in Ashbourne. It was a great night of mingling with the best of businesses and it’s great to see how Irish businesses are thriving across all sorts of industries. We were delighted to be nominated for the ‘Best New Business’ award.
The judging panel had great things to say about Bright HR.
Even though we didn’t leave the stage in victory, we came away with a nicely framed memento and it’s already been taken off Paul’s hands and is hanging on the office wall!
Hopefully we will take the top prize in the future as we continue to spread the word about Bright Contracts across Ireland and beyond!
Bright Contracts – Employment contracts and handbooks
BrightPay – Payroll Software
