Location: Northern Ireland
Rep.of Ireland
Location: Northern Ireland
Rep.of Ireland

First Tuesday Q&A

The claimant was dismissed by reason of gross misconduct and in particular.

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We dismissed a male employee a year ago for sending intimidating messages to a female employee. He has now posted a further offensive message on the same employee’s facebook page. At the time the employee left he signed a compromise agreement. What should we do following this female member of staff drawing this to our attention?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 06/11/2012 An employer has a duty of care towards its employees, but can this be extended to protection from beyond the employment? The Sex Discrimination Order 1976 (Amendment) Regulations (NI) 2008 amended the definition of harassment. The new provision makes an employer liable for third party harassment. I...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Dismissal Discrimination and Equality Policies and Procedures

In what circumstances will an employment tribunal accept covert monitoring as evidence?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 02/10/2012 This question raises a number of issues and we are not told if the monitoring footage is within the workplace or outside. The Industrial Tribunal does not have formal rules of evidence about the admissibility of evidence but, if a party to the proceedings wishes to rely on recordings in support of ...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Dismissal Discipline and Grievance Data Protection and Freedom of Information Act Human Rights

Why is a thorough investigation important in disciplinary cases? Is it a legal requirement?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 04/09/2012 There is no statutory obligation to carry out an investigation before a disciplinary matter. However, it is the investigation process which will identify whether there are grounds to instigate disciplinary procedures. The Labour Relations Agency’s Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance proc...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Dismissal Discipline and Grievance

We employ seasonal ‘summer’ workers. If we employ them for successive summers are they covered by unfair dismissal legislation/expectation of summer work under custom and practice?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 07/08/2012 In order to have unfair dismissal rights, the seasonal 'summer' worker must qualify as an employee AND also be able to prove one year of continuous employment. As regards the expectation of summer work under custom and practice, employers should be aware of the GB Employment Appeal Tribunal case of...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Dismissal Contracts of Employment A-Typical Working Recruitment and Selection

May I dismiss an employee who has under one year’s service without going through the disciplinary procedure?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 05/06/2012 As a starting point, an employee normally requires 1 year’s service to bring a claim for unfair dismissal. However, there are occasions in which an employee can bring a claim for automatic unfair dismissal despite not having one year’s service. Some examples are, if the reason for the dismissal is ...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Dismissal Discipline and Grievance

We have an employee who started as a trainee on 28th September 2010. I put him on a short term contract of six weeks to six months duration. He signed it on 23.09.10. He was on six months probation. On 14.04.11 he signed another temporary contract with a 12 month probation but I did not have any finishing date on it. On 16.01.12 he got a verbal warning On 16.02.12 he got a first written warning On 17.04.12 he got a second written warning Where do I go from here to rectify this situation? I realise that all temporary contracts should have end dates on them but am I now stuck with this under-performing employee?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 05/06/2012 There are a number of issues raised by this query. Firstly, what is this employee’s current contractual status? He had an initial fixed term and probationary period. The second contract and probationary period appear more like an open ended contract, as there was no fixed term incorporated. Is the ...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Dismissal Discipline and Grievance Contracts of Employment Probation

How long after a redundancy exercise an employer reinstate a post?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 07/02/2012 There is no set, safe period after a redundancy exercise to reinstate a post. One of the main risks an employer would have to mitigate against here is an employee arguing, after his or her dismissal for redundancy, that the dismissal was unfair on the basis that the employer didn’t have a genuine r...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Dismissal Redundancy

What are the employers options when, following a disagreement, an employee provides a written resignation, however changes their mind soon after and asks for their job back?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 04/10/2011 Once an employee has validly presented their resignation and the employer has accepted it, the employee does not have the right to unilaterally withdraw his or her resignation. However, employers should tread carefully when immediately accepting the resignation where it was either ambiguous, given ...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Dismissal Contracts of Employment Policies and Procedures

At what point can an employer dismiss on the grounds of capability an employee who is on long term absence due to illness?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 02/08/2011 To help minimise the risk of claims, an employer should generally only dismiss an employee in these circumstances once a capability procedure, including the minimum statutory dismissal and disciplinary procedures, has been fully followed. It's usually preferable to commence the capability procedure...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Dismissal Absence and Sickness Policies and Procedures

What steps can we take to protect the business from employees publishing damaging material about it on a blog or networking site?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 03/05/2011 If the comments otherwise damage the employer’s reputation or are intended or likely to destroy the relationship of trust and confidence between employer and employee, discipline and dismissal may be a legitimate course of action. In the absence of any express contractual clause, an employee has im...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Dismissal Discipline and Grievance