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Unfair dismissal
minkski
Posts: 6,017 Forum Member
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For anyone good at employment law: here's a question....
Someone working for a small company gets caught diverting stock (stealing) and is summarily dismissed. It turns out that they have been doing this a lot. The police are investigating and you expect the person to be arrested. Meanwhile the sacked person is taking the company to tribunal for unfair dismissal on the basis that the process of firing on the spot due to theft was not the correct procedure!
That seems all kind of wrong to me, can that be correct though? Surely if an employee is caught stealing they are guilty of gross misconduct and the company is entitled to fire them? Surely the only way they could win at tribunal would be if it was proven that they hadn't stolen?
Someone working for a small company gets caught diverting stock (stealing) and is summarily dismissed. It turns out that they have been doing this a lot. The police are investigating and you expect the person to be arrested. Meanwhile the sacked person is taking the company to tribunal for unfair dismissal on the basis that the process of firing on the spot due to theft was not the correct procedure!
That seems all kind of wrong to me, can that be correct though? Surely if an employee is caught stealing they are guilty of gross misconduct and the company is entitled to fire them? Surely the only way they could win at tribunal would be if it was proven that they hadn't stolen?
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It would depend upon how 'unauthorised removal of company property' is outlined in your Contract of Employment and, to be on the safe side, backed up in the Staff Handbook. If neither state that it would result in instant dismissal, then they could argue that the instant dismissal is unfair (innocent until proven guilty) and the court could uphold that they should have been suspended from the workplace (on pay or half pay) until the case comes to court.
No it's not that, he accepts he did steal
Very true but it wouldn't preclude the employer from taking out a civil suit against the employee
They should probably suspended him and carried out an investigation before a disciplinary hearing.
Here are rhe government guidelines.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/ResolvingWorkplaceDisputes/Disciplinaryprocedures/index.htm
There's always doubt.
That's what we have trials for.
I'm aware of that and I didn't claim they were wrong to sack him.
Having been involved in a similar case the employee was suspended and the police were in called in. An investigation took place and the employee was sacked.
The differnce in this case was that the disciplinary procedure was followed.
I do not know what disciplinary procedures this company has and it may well be that theft is mentioned and is a sackable offence.
I don't think there is any case for unfair dismissal here, especially if He admitted that he was stealing. Ultimately, the only sanction an employer can take against a thief is to remove them from the premises, and maybe to call the police.
The guy is just chancing it. But he sound very untrustworthy if he won't just go quietly.
They were/are
or so it says in the OP.
Oops. Missed that. Thank for correcting me
In most contracts, embezzlement or stealing of company property comes under the category of gross misconduct, for which UK employment law will allow for immediate dismissal. But the company must show that they felt the evidence was clear enough when they dismissed the person. Of course, if a conviction arises, it would be hard to counter that test.