Dissmissed but not worked Notice

Andy Symonds
Member - 5 posts

Sorry, meant to add that she had worked for us for 9 months

Tim James
Member - 2 posts

Did you give her a contract? If so you might have put some disciplinary procedures in that.

If not, then, by law, you have to follow a disciplinary procedure which conforms to the Employment Act.

I had to make 2 people redundant earlier in the year, and also dismiss somebody for gross misconduct.

In your case, I think you have reached a decision to dismiss based on performance issues - this is a difficult one to prove. You need to follow the correct procedure.

As far as I am aware you do not need to give notice when you dismiss somebody although you do need to tell them when their contract will end. I do know that, when you dismiss somebody for gross misconduct, this is referred to as dismissal without notice.

If you are absolutely sure that you followed the correct procedure to the letter, then I would defend the proceedings and put your case before the court or tribunal. But if you missed even one tiny detail in the process, you may find a tribunal finds against you, even if you feel it's unfair. Tribunals are notorious for making huge awards to employees.

If your employee has gone to a tribunal, you will probably be contacted by ACAS (who are brilliant) and they will act as a go between to try and settle without you going to tribunal. Even if they don't get in touch automatically, I would suggest you call their helpline (it's free and they really know their stuff.)

It's possible that the employee is aggreived and is just pushing her luck. After all, if she's been dismissed, she has nothing to lose. Galling though it may be, you might be better off making a deal with her so that you can draw a line under the situation and move on.

Hope this helps

Tim James

James Fairchild
Member - 336 posts

Andy - my view is that yes, you do have to pay the months' notice.

The fact that you instructed her to work one week (even though she did not) does not change this, in my view.

I agree with Tim, that Acas may be able to negotiate something here. Do expect though that the employee will say that she was told that she did _not_ have to work her notice period. Your bargaining power is to offer an agreed directory reference to the employee, that you will send on request to future people who request it (and to the employee as a "to whom it may concern".

Sarah Cowley
Member - 1 post

I have a similar situtation. We have just given an employee notice, in writing following a verbal meeting and it stated she would work 4 weeks as per her contract. She has since not turned up for work and has actually been paid for the month of Sept. Where do i stand? She had been made aware previously of our concern for her standard of work

Tim James
Member - 2 posts

Sarah,

This is really galling - but I think in the situation you have to accept the fact that once you terminate somebody's contract you are not going to get the best out of them!

I once had an (good) employee who accepted a great job with another company - she agreed to work her notice, and did so. In her last week, she emailed all of our best customers to say 'Goodbye' - she meant no harm I think, but we lost a lot of them to our competitors because they liked dealing with her and decided to look around. If she had not done that, I think her successor would have been able to maintain those relationships and grow them.

There is little more frustrating than paying somebody for time they haven't worked, but if they are leaving (for whatever reason) it's best for all concerned if you cut the ropes as quickly as feasibly possible.

In practical terms, I'm assuming you let her go recently, and she's been paid for some hours she didn't work. If she would have expected to continue into October, then you could write to her and tell her that as she has not turned up for work under notice you are bringing her end date forward. You could try asking her to repay monies overpaid to her, but I dare say you would have little success.

Draw a line under it and console yourself in the fact that she hasn't done any damage to your business in those 4 weeks, and you have a clear road ahead to plan / recruit etc for replacing her.

Bozena Benton
Member - 58 posts

Andy,

To clarify, dismissal without notice is known as summary dismissal and only applies in matters of gross misconduct where the employees actions are something so heinous that it makes continuation of the contract impossible. As you asked her to work her notice her performance couldn't have been that bad.

You do have to give someone notice that you are bringing their contract to an end in the same way that you expect them to give you notice. Telling them their employment will end at some point in the future (even if it is immediate) is actually giving them notice. If you have given her a contract the length of notice should be stated in writing.

If her length of service falls between 1 month and 2 years she is entitled to statutory notice of one week. However, if her contractual notice from you is greater she is entitled to the higher amount.

Check her contract as she may not have a claim. By contract she may be required to give you a month's notice whilst you may only be obliged to give her the statutory minimum. If so this may be why she is confused. If you have not given her full notice entitlement she has a claim of wrongful dismissal for a breach of contract.

Without talking to her there's no way of finding out why she didn't work her notice, she may have misheard, been sick or felt that any trust between you had broken down and that her performance during her notice would have been criticised, the latter being compounded by you not serving her with her full notice.

If you are liable for the additional notice pay is may be commercially beneficial (in terms of time and hassle) to pay up rather than pursue the issue.

Kevin Brown
Member - 110 posts

Wouldn't it also be prudent to pay in arrears in future?