Joan runs a tea shop in the city centre with 20 employees. The business has only been trading a few years and has grown steadily. With the nature of the business recruitment can sometimes be difficult and staff turnover is a problem Joan has personally recruited all of the staff to-date, which has been successful. Joan has used her experience and instinct to select staff previously. Her most recent recruitment is not working out. The employee is unreliable and continually arrives late to work with a poor attitude. The employee is constantly using her mobile phone to contact friends and family as opposed to working. In addition in her first few weeks she has reported in sick on two occasions.
Despite repeated informal discussions with the new member of staff nothing has improved her attitude or attendance at work. In light of the circumstances dismissal may be an option but an employer needs to ensure they have investigated all of the facts in a situation before pursuing a formal dismissal. At present Joan is not aware of any medical conditions or personal problems the employee may be suffering which could be the cause of the employee’s work performance. Even though the employee cannot automatically pursue an unfair dismissal claim (as she doesn’t have the two years continuous service) the employee may be able to pursue a claim if she can fulfil one of the exemptions form the two year service rule, i.e. discrimination, whistle-blowing, health & safety, etc. As such it is always best to seek professional legal advice before pursuing a dismissal.
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Case Charge
Joan runs a tea shop in the city centre with 20 employees. The business has only been trading a few years and has grown steadily.
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The Outcome
Even though the employee cannot automatically pursue an unfair dismissal claim (as she doesn't have the two years continuous service) the employee may be able to pursue a claim if she can fulfil one of the exemptions form the two year service rule, i.e. discrimination, whistle-blowing, health
