Accountant Wins €85,000 After Dismissal for Raising Spending Concerns

In this Case, the Complainant had less than one year’s service when he was summarily dismissed by the Respondent. Since taking up his role as an accountant with the Organisation, the Complainant noted a number of expenditure-related items that he advised the Respondent to review.

Although no performance-related issues arose on completion of his probationary period, the Complainant was summarily dismissed a number of weeks before completing one year’s service. While the Respondent sought to defend its position by arguing that the Complainant did not complete the necessary service requirement to avail of the protection of the Unfair Dismissals Act, the Adjudicator noted that the date of dismissal under the legislation is the date when the contractual notice period would have expired. In this case, three months after the alleged date of dismissal. As there was no evidence demonstrating that fair procedures were followed and the Complainant was entitled to avail of protection against unfair dismissal, the Adjudicator ruled that the Complainant was unfairly dismissed and awarded €85,000 in compensation.

Organisations should exercise caution if considering an Employee’s termination before they complete one year’s service and ensure that the correct notice provisions are considered when calculating the effective date of dismissal.

To learn more about partnering with Adare Trusted People Partners’ Leading HR & Employment Law Experts, please contact Neil McCormack nmccormack@adarehrm.ie today.