A cleaner has been awarded €11,000 by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) after she was unfairly dismissed by her employer; a contract cleaning company.
The employee in question had been employed at a client's site for six hours per day, five days a week. She was informed by her employer that she was being dismissed because of complaints made at the site that appear to have related to her timekeeping and attendance. However, the accuracy of the relevant working time records was disputed in circumstances where the employee did not clock in and out herself. Rather, her attendance times were only noted by a security guard on-site.
The Adjudication Officer concluded that there were no substantial grounds justifying the dismissal. He also found that the dismissal was procedurally unfair as the employer had not conducted any investigation and had not complied with any disciplinary procedure. As it happened, the employee was not even aware of any grievance or disciplinary procedures having existed.
The decision once again underscores the importance of employers having proper disciplinary policies and procedures in place and following them rigorously. It also emphasises the significance of having appropriate mechanisms for recording the hours actually worked by employees. A full copy of the decision (A Cleaner v A Contract Cleaning Company, ADJ-00025600) is available on the WRC website.