Home Knowledge Employment & Benefits 12 Days of Christmas – Fair Procedures Required During a Probationary Period

Employment & Benefits 12 Days of Christmas – Fair Procedures Required During a Probationary Period

 

Welcome to day 7 of our 12 Days of Christmas series. Today we look back on case law arising in connection with the application of fair procedures during an employee’s probationary period. 

Labour Court: Fair Procedures Required During a Probationary Period 

Readers may recall that last month we considered a recent case brought under the Industrial Relations Acts (the “IR Acts”) by a Complainant who was dismissed without notice and due process during his probationary period. Unlike the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977-2015, the IR Acts do not impose a service requirement before an employee can take a claim. However, the IR Acts ordinarily limit the Labour Court to making non-enforceable recommendations to the parties. In the aforementioned case, the Labour Court recommended that that the employer pay the Complainant €90,000 in compensation for the dismissal due to the lack of fair procedures applied. 

Although not enforceable, an adverse recommendation can be reputationally detrimental to an employer’s business. Our advice to clients is that even where a contract of employment provides for dismissal on short notice during the probationary period, consideration should be given to the pros and cons of following fair procedures in order to avoid any successful claims for unfair dismissal under the IR Acts. 

Read our full original article here

 

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