Unfair dismissal

jackiebaron

My neice recently got dismissed from her job. I suspect that she was gotten rid of as part of a witch hunt. 4 or 5 other employees were recently terminated under similar circumstances and I think she was railroaded to be honest. She had worked there without a problem (in fact nothing but praise from other staff and customers alike) for over 5 years.
She made a mistake with money one particularly hectic day and was given a warning. Then she was given another warning for another petty mistake that was tolerated in the past and all staff members made such an error. Then she was called in and summarily fired on what certainly appears to be another trumped up charge.

I guess technically she was dismissed legally but it's definitely fishy. I think that her team were earmarked for a cull and they didn't want to pay severance or redundancy. Is there anyone she can talk to about this very unfair state of circumstances? Is there any redress?

checknraise

Your neice's best bet would be to contact a solicitor or get some advice off free legal aid and they will be able to advise her. She should bring as much information as possible with her.

FoamyMushroom

Weird to hear that a company has a 3 strikes and your gone policy. I went through the same sort of thing, Except I had one bad day of reoprts from customers (basically the customer was allowed to judge your performance over the phone however they wanted, and it went down for your overall performance) because of this I got the sack over 1 or 2 bad reports. Awesome no?

Usually a company would have a system where, you would get a verbal warning, written warning, suspended with pay [or without] then terminated.

As the dude above me says, get legal advice and see what is said.

Just thought I'd share a similar story :P

cookie82

i would contact NERA they are fantastic. They will definately be able to give advice.

http://www.employmentrights.ie/en/

if she was working there for 5 years she will be entitled to government redundancy

The statutory redundancy payment is a lump-sum payment based on the pay of the employee. All eligible employees are entitled to:

Two weeks' pay for every year of service over the age of 16 and
One further week's pay
The amount of statutory redundancy is subject to a maximum earnings limit of €600 per week (€31,200 per year).

Pay refers to your current normal weekly pay including average regular overtime and benefits-in-kind, but before tax and PRSI deductions, that is your gross pay.

The statutory redundancy payment is tax-free.

Shelflife

cookie82 wrote: »

i would contact NERA they are fantastic. They will definately be able to give advice.

http://www.employmentrights.ie/en/

if she was working there for 5 years she will be entitled to government redundancy

The statutory redundancy payment is a lump-sum payment based on the pay of the employee. All eligible employees are entitled to:

Two weeks' pay for every year of service over the age of 16 and
One further week's pay
The amount of statutory redundancy is subject to a maximum earnings limit of €600 per week (€31,200 per year).

Pay refers to your current normal weekly pay including average regular overtime and benefits-in-kind, but before tax and PRSI deductions, that is your gross pay.

The statutory redundancy payment is tax-free.

If you are fired you are not entitled to redundancy. If the employer has orcastrated the dismissal then there may be a case, but if they have followed due procedure then there will be no redundancy.

kollegeknight

My girlfriend had a similar issue. she should go to citzens advice. She cannot get sacked for three different incidents. She has to get verbal, written and final warnings for similar incidents.

i would also contact a solicitor.

the following site has some info
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/unemployment_and_redundancy/dismissal/unfair_dismissal.html

Nody

kollegeknight wrote: »

My girlfriend had a similar issue. she should go to citzens advice. She cannot get sacked for three different incidents. She has to get verbal, written and final warnings for similar incidents.

i would also contact a solicitor.

the following site has some info
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/unemployment_and_redundancy/dismissal/unfair_dismissal.html

No she does not; there is no legal definition of the number/type of warnings to get.

Rachiee

that is a bad story but it sounds like she doesnt have a leg to stand on

if she was claiming constructive dismissal in order to avoid paying redundancy she would need to prove that there was not precedance for people to be fired having made such mistakes, and that they did not re-fill her post

Still they could argue that they were trying to improve systems and as part of that they began dismissing people for such minor mistakes.

cookie82

Shelflife wrote: »

If you are fired you are not entitled to redundancy. If the employer has orcastrated the dismissal then there may be a case, but if they have followed due procedure then there will be no redundancy.

yes i should have noticed that bit thanks

Eoin

kollegeknight wrote: »

My girlfriend had a similar issue. she should go to citzens advice. She cannot get sacked for three different incidents. She has to get verbal, written and final warnings for similar incidents.

Of course she can. And even if those policies are in place, a company can skip one or all steps right through to instant dismissal. Obviously they have to be able to back it up very thoroughly though.

Nody wrote: »

No she does not; there is no legal definition of the number/type of warnings to get.

Exactly. There's the principles of natural justice (right to respond, representation, appeal etc) that the procedure must adhere to, but there are no specifics set down by law, although some industries might sign up to a common code of practice.