Can previous history be taken into account when dismissing someone for gross misconduct?

Posted in : First Tuesday Q&A NI on 1 April 2014
Arthur Cox
Arthur Cox
Issues covered:

An employer may dismiss fairly for a first instance of gross misconduct. It is also possible to dismiss fairly where a less serious form of misconduct takes place, following previous warnings. In some cases it may be difficult to pinpoint whether behaviour amounts to gross misconduct and it will depend on the facts of the individual case. However, it is generally accepted that it must be an act which fundamentally undermines the employment contract (i.e. it must be repudiatory conduct by the employee going to the root of the contract (Wilson v Racher 1974)). Moreover, the conduct must be a deliberate and wilful contradiction of the contractual terms or amount to gross negligence (Laws v

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Back to Q&A's This article is correct at 02/09/2015
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The information in this article is provided as part of Legal-Island's Employment Law Hub. We regret we are not able to respond to requests for specific legal or HR queries and recommend that professional advice is obtained before relying on information supplied anywhere within this article.

Arthur Cox
Arthur Cox

The main content of this article was provided by Arthur Cox. Contact telephone number is +44 28 9026 2673 or email rosemary.lundy@arthurcox.com

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