dismissal fair even though conduct not "reprehensible"

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Martin Malone

The decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in RBS v Donaghay has clarified a question which may not be obvious at the inception of disciplinary proceedings but often emerges in the course of the process: if an employee is to be dismissed for misconduct, does that conduct need to be what would be generally regarded as "reprehensible"? There is also a chain of case law which makes the question relevant in such circumstances.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary "reprehensible" means "deserving censure or condemnation".

As an aside, the summary of the judgment posted on the Employment Appeals Tribunal website includes the word "esto" which is an obscure Scottish legal term (the employment tribunal was in Glasgow) and means "a technical term used in written pleadings used to introduce a secondary line of defence which accepts, only for the sake of argument, facts which are still disputed in the primary defence".

After a little diversion to deal with semantics, Mr Donaghay was a customer services adviser who was in a relationship and lived with another RBS employee, known in the proceedings as "LC". The facts of the case are set out in the decision:

"On Saturday 3 January 2009, the Claimant went out drinking with friends whilst LC remained in the flat. He returned late in the evening or in the early hours of 4 January. An argument took place between the Claimant and LC which culminated in him admittedly pushing her so as to cause her to fall onto the sofa. He then left but, having done so, tried to get back into the flat and caused a disturbance by shouting, swearing and kicking the front door so as to force his way back into the flat. Continue reading →

should a tribunal allow adjournments because a claimant is unwell?

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Martin Malone

Although not dealing with any new principles of law, the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in the case of O’Cathail v Transport for London provides useful guidance about how tribunals should approach requests for adjournments from claimants on the ground of ill health.

It is well known to those who appear regularly at tribunal hearings (and other court hearings for that matter) that witnesses, including claimants, can find giving evidence and being subjected to cross examination a daunting ordeal. There is therefore often suspicion that those who say they are too unwell to attend the hearing are sometimes simply trying to avoid the hearing. Of course, as in all other walks of life, genuine illnesses can affect everyone and it’s often easy to identify that the person concerned clearly cannot attend the hearing.

However, particularly in tribunals where costs are generally not recoverable, the costs incurred as the result of an adjournment can be considerable (possibly including substantial barristers’, solicitors’ and expert witnesses’ costs) and a cynic might take the view that a late adjournment might even promote an offer in settlement of a claim in order to avoid further costs resulting from the adjournment. Continue reading →

unfair dismissal qualifying period change will not be retrospective

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Martin Malone

As we reported last month, the qualifying period in order to bring a claim of unfair dismissal is being restored to two years. Although the change will come into force this April it will only apply to employees whose employment commences on or after 6 April 2012. It will therefore take some time for the change to have a practical impact for employers.

For example, someone who commences employment on 5 April 2012 will secure protection from unfair dismissal from 5 April 2013, whereas someone who commences employment on 6 April will not achieve the same level of protection until 6 April 2014.

However, it is vitally important for employers to remember that there are unfair dismissal claims for which there is no qualifying period so that protection from unfair dismissal is available from day one. These are chiefly claims resulting from the assertion of statutory rights and those which can lead to findings of automatically unfair dismissal. Subscribers should check our employment law guide for details of those unfair dismissal claims in respect of which the qualifying period does not apply.

It is equally important to remember that the qualifying period only applies to unfair dismissal claims. Continue reading →

tribunal reform: fees and more

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Martin Malone

The government plans a “root and branch” reform of tribunal procedures to speed the process up and cut costs, including developing a rapid resolution system for simpler claims which may be decided on paper with no hearing at all. One problem will be to identify which claims are simple enough to be dealt with in this way. It is suggested that disputes about holiday pay would be suitable – but as recent case developments on the accrual of holiday pay for those on long-term sickness absence show – complex issues can arise in apparently minor areas. This will be another long term project; in the meantime, the government will be pressing on with some measures it considers will improve matters and don’t need to await a full overhaul of the rules.

The first of these forthcoming changes, and one which has generated a lot of publicity, is the plan to require claimants to pay a fee to start tribunal proceedings, which they will get back only if they are successful in their claim. Continue reading →

protected conversations

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Martin Malone

I mentioned the concept of “protected conversations” briefly in our October 2011 newsletter and gave it a guarded welcome.

As now presented in the proposed government reforms it is confirmed as a completely new development, in which employers would be able to broach difficult topics and, perhaps, suggest an agreed parting of the ways, without anything said being admissible as evidence. Protection will not extend to anything discriminatory said in meetings – as is the case currently in “without prejudice” discussions. Continue reading →

alternative dispute resolution to be promoted

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Martin Malone

As part of the government’s review of employment law strategies to reduce the number of claims which get as far as a tribunal are less controversial, and, some might say, less pro-employer.

ACAS’ current power to conciliate will revert to a duty, and all cases will be referred to voluntary early conciliation before employment tribunal proceedings are started, with an extension of a month to the time limit for bringing claims to allow for this. ACAS has a reasonable track record of success in such early conciliation, but the crunch will be whether they have the resources to cope with the level of work. The need to increase resources is recognised, with the government saying that the additional funding needed will be paid for from the savings made elsewhere. It has to be observed that referral to ACAS in past similar arrangements which operated until 2009 frequently amounted to little more than a few phone calls. Accordingly not too much should be expected from this initiative. Continue reading →

capability or conduct? one, the other or both?

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Martin Malone

A helpful case for employers, but one that should be treated with caution, deals with the issue of whether a dismissal which is purportedly for misconduct can be found to be fair even if the tribunal holds it is for capability and conduct (both potentially fair reasons for dismissal under section 98(2) Employment Rights Act 1996).

It is a common problem for employers whether, faced with an employee’s incompetence or negligence, they should opt for a capability or conduct procedure and/or dismissal. Often, the behaviour in question overlaps both conduct and behaviour. The soundest advice is to cover both bases although, of course, in the case of a capability dismissal it is expected that a different kind of procedure with different expectations and support will be followed. An early EAT decision in Hotson v Wisbech Conservative Club made clear that an employer is not tied to the label he happens to put on particular facts, nor is he prevented from running the two as alternatives. However, it is clearly wise to ensure that both capability and conduct are considered at an early stage to ensure that no argument can be progressed that prejudice has been caused to an employee.

In Screene v Seatwave Ltd, Seatwave was the victim of a large scale fraud and Mr Screene was the unfortunate financial controller who failed to detect the fraudulent transactions. Mr Screene was called to a disciplinary hearing to consider three allegations, the central one being that he "failed to identify or address large amounts of cash leaving the German bank account totalling to roughly 1.7m euros within several weeks". The next day Seatwave wrote to Mr Screene "to confirm the decision to summarily dismiss you on the grounds of Gross Misconduct". The letter continued: "you have been negligent in the completion of your duties as follows…an absolute failure to complete non UK bank reconciliations leading to significant financial losses for the company". It concluded: "your serious negligence in the performance of your duties…clearly justifies Summary Dismissal". Continue reading →

disciplinary hearings and hospital trusts

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Martin Malone

Along comes another case to add to the long list of claims against hospital trusts concerning alleged flaws in the disciplinary process. Trusts have very detailed contractual disciplinary procedures, complicated by reviews and the introduction of new and often overlapping procedures consequent to Directions issued by the Secretary of State which have led to a plethora of claims of failure to comply with contractual terms, express or implied. These cases have often assisted more generally in the clarification of tricky legal questions (such as the right to legal representation at disciplinary hearings under human rights legislation).

In Lim v Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust the High Court was asked to consider whether Mr Lim (a consultant anaesthetist) should be granted an injunction preventing a capability hearing from proceeding until an assessment panel of the National Clinical Assessment Service (NCAS) had made a determination as to his performance. The court was asked to determine two questions:

1. Whether the Trust was in breach of contract by failing to comply with its own procedures by failing to refer the issues (relating to bullying and inappropriate behaviour) to the NCAS
2. Whether, by seeking to revive allegations of misconduct some three years earlier, the Trust failed to comply with the terms of its own disciplinary procedure that it should act fairly and speedily.

Continue reading →

employment tribunal claims: do the latest changes really take account of the “human factor”?

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Martin Malone

You know that moment when someone voices something you’ve been thinking for a while? Lord Justice Mummery hit the nail on the head for many who have experience of the employment tribunal system in Gayle v Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust when he responded to criticisms about how long the case had taken to progress through the system and how much money had been spent on it.

On the face of it, the criticism was a fair one – the claimant unsuccessfully appealed twice after being unsuccessful in her claim that she was unfairly dismissed for taking unauthorised time off for union duties at a three week hearing, with the final decision being made nearly five years after the events in question. But as Lord Justice Mummery made clear, this case was very much the exception to the rule; few tribunal cases last longer than a day or two; still fewer go to one level of appeal, let alone two, and he pointed out that there are a range of reasons why cases such as this one take a long time to resolve. In particular, he remarked that it is difficult to achieve a speedy, inexpensive outcome where one or more party to the proceedings is determined to take every point of law, evidence and procedure. Continue reading →

extension of flexible working rights

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Martin Malone

The Government has made clear for some time its intention to extend the right to request flexible working to most employees rather than just those who having caring responsibilities.

In September 2010 the Department for Business Innovation and Skills announced an intention to extend flexible working rights to all parents of children under 18 from April 2011 (covering a further 300,000 employees) and plans to roll out the rights to all employees. Extension of the rights would be accompanied with a new and simplified system for requesting parental leave.

However the April 2011 change was postponed. The reason given by the Government was the economic climate but it was made clear that the widening of entitlement remained firmly on its agenda (in accordance with the Coalition Agreement). Continue reading →