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Employee told to go home was not dismissed…

A truck driver has lost his personal grievance claim for unjustified dismissal as he had not been dismissed.

The driver got into a heated argument with his employer over servicing of his truck and was told to go home.  He responded by telling the employer where to stick his job and that he quit.

The employer followed up over the next few days to ask when the employee was returning to work, but the employee responded by asking why he was dismissed.  The employer stated that the employee was not dismissed.

The Employment Relations Authority has held that telling the employee to go home during a heated argument did not amount to a dismissal and the employer had made this clear in subsequent contact.  The employee was not entitled to claim he was dismissed and should have returned to work to repair the employment relationship.