HR BHND1

 Under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, once an employee has been continuously employed for one year he/she has a right of action if he/she is unfairly dismissed.  If an employee has been dismissed and perceives it as being unfair he or she can bring a case to the EAT (Employment Appeals Tribunal)

A dismissal is considered by the EAT to be automatically unfair if the employee is dismissed for any of the following reasons:  Membership or proposed membership of a trade union or engaging in trade union activities  Religious or political opinions

 Race, colour, sexual orientation, age or membership of the Traveller community  Pregnancy, giving birth or breastfeeding or any matters connected with pregnancy or birth  Availing of rights under legislation to maternity leave, adoptive leave, carer’s leave, parental leave or force majeure leave

 Legal proceedings against an employer where an employee is a party or a witness  Unfair selection for redundancy

 Consider the Case of Ms Heffernan ?  Gross Misconduct  But …..

Justified Dismissal Unfair Dismissal

 John worked for McDonalds for two years  John gave a friend whom he worked with extra toppings on his McFlurry  John got fired on the spot for stealing  John claimed that his friend said “don’t skimp on the toppings” so John put what he called a generous helping of toppings on his McFlurry

 John claimed unfair dismissal  What do you think? Red or Green ?

 Mary worked for a computer company called BCC for three years  BCC computers had a policy in place regarding Social Media  Mary was dismissed for putting derogatory comments about her workplace on Facebook  Mary was dismissed under the terms of gross misconduct

 Mary claimed she was having a bad day and ranted online and showed no remorse for doing so  Mary claimed unfair dismissal  What do you think? Red or Green ?

 As we have seen cases that seem fair or in accordance with a companies policy and procedures – it can still be considered unfair  This is because the EAT will look at how reasonable the decision was  As we have now seen with many cases what might be considered “fair procedure” is not always considered best practice

 When companies or Human Resource departments are designing their policies it is important that they consider how reasonable their policy and procedures are  If not they may be subject to a ruling of unfair dismissal even if they are following their correct procedure