Unfair dismissal of an employee?

Terigirl

I'd just like some opinions on this - I work for a small company. We do have an employement consultant, but in this case my Managing Director has decided to overrule their advice.

One of our employees booked a four week holiday to go with his fianceeto her home country in order to get her visa sorted in preparation for getting married. Last week, he contacted us asking if it would be possible to hold his job open as the process for obtaining this is much longer than anticipated and he has submitted his passport - ergo he can't come back when planned.

My MD has made the decision to dismiss him in absentia and pay him only for the holidays he has accrued to date. The worker in question has just under five years service with the company.

I'm worried that he will come back and then claim for unfair dismissal, as this is not a redundancy and we have conducted no kind of investigation etc (we have been told that he can't be sacked for circumstances beyond his control.) What should I be prepared for?

456789

It could possibly be argued that he knew that their was a risk that things would take longer and that he handed over his passport voluntarily

What exactly did the employment consultant say?

Is their some way he can work from home/holiday?

fengirl_2

If no kind of process has been followed, then the company is open to an ET claim from the employee. Has your MD looked at the new Code of Practice on disciplinary proceedings on the ACAS website?

Reggie_Rebel

Why would the company be open? The employee has taken four weeks holidays, a large chunk, in one go and has no idea when he can return. In a small business this length of absence could be crippling.

woody01

Terigirl wrote: »

I'd just like some opinions on this - I work for a small company. We do have an employement consultant, but in this case my Managing Director has decided to overrule their advice.

One of our employees booked a four week holiday to go with his fianceeto her home country in order to get her visa sorted in preparation for getting married. Last week, he contacted us asking if it would be possible to hold his job open as the process for obtaining this is much longer than anticipated and he has submitted his passport - ergo he can't come back when planned.

My MD has made the decision to dismiss him in absentia and pay him only for the holidays he has accrued to date. The worker in question has just under five years service with the company.

I'm worried that he will come back and then claim for unfair dismissal, as this is not a redundancy and we have conducted no kind of investigation etc (we have been told that he can't be sacked for circumstances beyond his control.) What should I be prepared for?

This isn't unfair at all.
This is unauthorised absence and the consequences could be construed as gross misconduct.

How is a small company supposed to 'carry' someone when they give no indication when they will return? The guy isn't sick or incapacitated, he is sorting out a wedding.

This would never get to tribuanl, and if it did, the employee would almost certainly lose.

stingey

"we have conducted no kind of investigation".

This may cause you problems at a hearing. The company has not shown to be fair when making this decision and as you said the people who are paid to advise you on this have been overuled also.

I can understand the reason for dismissing the employee, but the MD has left the company wide open by not following procedures.

It's a pretty shabby way of treating someone who worked for the company for that length of time. Could the employee not have taken unpaid time off and the company employed someone on a temporary basis until his return? Then an investigation could have been done and the decision may have been the same, but the company in a stronger position.

Strider590

The MD is an !!!!!!, let him lie in his own !!!!, it's not your problem.
Employer's who think they can do what they like and potentially destroy peoples lives, deserve what they have coming to them. What goes around, always comes around eventually.
When the !!!!! that made my and others life hell for 9 years eventually got cancer, I invited all my old work friends round for a BBQ to celebrate.

But what's your position? why are you worried?

Mudd14

Bit harsh strider.

My opinion is that the employer is fully entitled to do what he has done and why should he employee temporary people at his costs to cover someone who has flown off somewhere!

Although I can see the argument that given the employee has been there 5 years so compassion would have been nice.

Horace

Bearing in mind the employee has absented himself following a two week holiday then the employer has a right to terminate his contract because they have no idea when he will return - the employee should have realised that obtaining visas is a lengthy process and that he has handed over his passport.

If the MD had been so minded, he could have kept on the employee but not paid him for the time he is now taking off.

Without wanting to be sound harsh but what business is it of yours what the employer does to this employee?

fengirl_2

I don't know whether the dismissal was unfair or not - but the company cannot dismiss the employee without going through a formal procedure - without doing this they are open to being taken to an ET. They can be fined simply for not going through a procedure - even if the reason for the dismissal is fair.

Terigirl

I'm frontline staff - I deal with wages, employment, contracts and nine times out of ten, although I have no real power (everything is approved by MD), it's my name on the letters going out breaking bad news to the teams.

As mentioned, I already took advice on this from our consultancy and they intimated to me that we should attempt at least a cursory investigation at distance in order to comply with current employment legislation. This we have not done and, having just dealt with a team member threatening to sue for being dismissed for genuine gross misconduct (being drunk on the job), I'm just wondering how much of ****storm I will have to weather this time. Forwarned is forearmed.