We recently experienced the case of an employee being awarded substantial compensation for dismissal after three weeks employment.
The Tribunal in their wisdom decided that he had been dismissed not for the good reasons given by the employer but because he had attempted to assert a statutory right. i.e. because he had complained that his working hours had exceeded the maximum allowed under the Working Time Regulations.
The employer had fully investigated this and responded by changing the work pattern but the employee responded by taking time off without permission and then refusing to speak to his manager without his girlfriend accompanying him.
A similar case has been reported (see below) All we can advise is that employers make it crystal clear what the dismissal is as a result of and ensure that they follow full dismissal procedures - even for employees who have only been with you for a short space of time.
09 Feb 2009 - Worker Compensated for flea bite
A woman has been awarded compensation after she was unfairly dismissed from her job for raising health and safety concerns after fleas bit her.
Waitress Maria Moon, 46, was fired from her job at Hafan y Môr holiday centre in Pwllheli, Gwynedd in May 2008. The tribunal accepted that the reason she had been sacked was because she raised health and safety issues after suffering the flea bites in a chalet where she lived.
The Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), refused to disclose how much Ms Moon had been awarded.
Miss Moon informed the tribunal, in November last year, that the chalet she shared with another employee had a broken shower, damp coming through the walls and soiled mattresses. After waking up one night feeling feverish and scratching herself, Miss Moon was told by her doctor that she had infected insect bites which were probably from rat fleas. The Holiday Centre proceeded to fumigate the chalet and Ms Moon was asked to move back in 48 hours later.
In May 2008 she was dismissed, allegedly because management found that the coffee shop was overstaffed. It was decided by the tribunal that although there was overstaffing no-one else was seriously considered. The tribunal said, It was far more likely that her dismissal was triggered by her having raised health and safety issues.
Hafan y Môr have thus far failed to comment.
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