Dismissed employee only entitled to $4,800 after found by ERA to be a significant contributor to his dismissal

The Employment Relations Authority has ordered an employer to pay over $4,800 after the dismissal of an employee was found to be unjustified.

Whilst it was decided that the employer did breach their obligations, the Authority significantly reduced the sum awarded to the employee after finding that the employee contributed significantly to the dismissal decision.

The employee was required by the employer to complete a yearly online course. This course was for the purpose of ensuring that employees complied with various company policies and procedures. For the first three years of his employment he completed the course without issues.

In his fourth year of employment the employee failed to complete the online course. He received several email reminders in the weeks leading up to the course’s due date, but did not complete the course.

After the deadline to complete the online course passed the employer sent the employee four emails indicating that any further failure to complete the course may result in disciplinary action.

After these four emails were sent the employer called the employee twice to remind him to complete the course and to ask him why he hadn’t yet completed it. The employee responded stating that he had recently completed a similar course for a company that the employer had contracted with.

The employee was invited to a disciplinary meeting shortly after. At this meeting it was alleged that the employee had breached the requirement to complete the course, and that this constituted a breach of the employee guidelines. The employee was invited to respond to these allegations.

A follow-up meeting was scheduled for two weeks later. The employee did not respond to the allegations prior to the second meeting but did attend it. The employer terminated the employee’s employment by presenting him with a termination letter at this meeting.

The employee then filed a personal grievance claim of unjustified dismissal with the Authority.

The Authority decided that the employer did not consider the employee’s verbal reasoning for not completing the online course, instead telling him to put it in writing. When he failed to do so the employer did not consider that the employee had provided any response, when he had verbally responded at both meetings. This failure was found to be a defect in the dismissal process, and the employee’s personal grievance claim for unjustified dismissal was made out.

The Authority then had to decide what the appropriate remedies were.

It was decided that the employer owed the employee approximately $19,200 for 8 weeks of lost wages. The Authority also decided that the employee was not entitled to any compensation for the hurt and humiliation caused by the employer, as the employee had contributed significantly to the dismissal by refusing to complete the course.

Due to this conduct by the employee the Authority decided to discount the wages owed by the employer by 75%. The employer was ordered to pay approximately $4,800.

If there is confusion around the rights of an employee in an employment relationship, it pays to seek advice from a professional with experience in the area.

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