Today's EAT review concerns the case of Lorraine Reilly v Sandra Brady and John Dyke, The Retreat Hair and Beauty, Drogheda, Co. Louth, which involved a manager dismissed for refusing to dismiss another employee.
Case Name: Lorraine Reilly v Sandra Brady and John Dyke, The Retreat Hair and Beauty
Legislation: Unfair Dismissals Acts 1997 TO 2007; Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973 TO 2005
Jurisdictions/Subject Matter: Reasonable Instructions given to Employees.
Facts
The claimant was a manager in the respondent company. She was asked to dismiss another member of staff and when she refused, she was called to a meeting and was informed that she was being summarily dismissed for not fulfilling her duties as a manager. She received holiday pay due but did not get any notice monies. There was no appearance from the respondent.
Determination
The Tribunal found that the claim under the Unfair Dismissals Acts was made out and awarded the claimant €32,240.00. They also awarded her €1,240.00; two weeks pay in lieu of notice.
Legal Review
As the employer did not give evidence in the case, we have no information on the basis of the Tribunal’s or the employer’s decision. A point which is clear from the claimant’s evidence, is that she felt her dismissal arose from her failure to dismiss another member of staff.
This begs the question; what instructions from an employer to a manager are considered reasonable instructions?
An employer should be aware of the terms and conditions of employment which a manager is employed under. Any request made to a manager which complies with his/her lawful duties of employment as set out in his/her contract of employment would generally be considered reasonable.
The duties of an employee contained within his/her contract of employment will be considered reasonable or unreasonable having regard to the circumstances of their specific employment. A reasonable instruction to one employee (for example a security guard asked to restrain a person) may be unreasonable if given to another employee (for example a secretary).
Generally a staff manager will be responsible for the supervision and disciplining of their staff. Should a member of their staff require such discipline and a request to commence a disciplinary procedure is made from the employer, it would likely to be considered the duty of the manager to so comply. More problematic is an instruction to fire without any process, as such firing may be unlawful, and therefore the instruction itself could be unlawful.
A further point to note is that the instruction itself to a manager to dismiss an employee may in fact undermine the role of the manager. If a lawful duty of the manager’s employment is to hire and fire employees, an instruction from the company stating that a certain employee is to be dismissed may be seen as stepping into the shoes of the manager. This may potentially ground a constructive dismissal claim from the manager.
Conclusion
Employers and managers alike should be aware that the duties as set out in the Contract of Employment are those which rule the employment relationship. These duties should be objectively reasonable having regard to the specific nature of the job. Where the instruction given to an employee is not considered a reasonable instruction, any attempt to sanction the employee for failing to comply with that instruction is unlikely to be upheld by the Employment Appeals Tribunal or other similar bodies.
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