The Complainant was employed on an Accounting apprenticeship from the 2nd of September 2021 to the 16th of November 2021.  The Complainant submitted that he was treated differently due to his disability in that he had to work from a table in the canteen area. The Complainant alleged that from the day he informed the Respondent of his cancer diagnosis (Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumour) the Respondent rarely interacted with him and became distant. The Complainant also alleged he was not given a laptop and not provided with the use of a phone and was concerned at taking work home due to the sensitivity of the client data.

When the Complainant received his diagnosis of cancer and found it difficult to sit in the chair, he stated the Respondent’s attitude changed towards him them. He raised his concerns with the Accounting Technician body.  Soon after, the Complainant was advised via e-mail on his way home that his employment was terminated without notice or notice pay. He stated it took months to get paid what he was due in holidays and pay and he was not issued with a statement of terms and conditions of employment during his employment.  The Complainant stated that there was no grievance procedure in place.

The Respondent advised that his longest serving employee who was the “engine room” of his business had to resign for personal medical reasons and this left the Respondent under severe pressure and he or other members of staff did not have the time to train the Complainant. The Respondent advised he lost clients during this period as the severe difficulty coping with the volume of work due to the loss of his key employee.

The Respondent further submitted that it was his first time at the WRC and that he had good staff relations. He stated that the Complainant’s complaints were lies and fabrications.

The Adjudication Officer found that the Respondent had breached the Terms of Employment Information Act by not providing the Complainant with a written statement of his terms and conditions of employment within two months of commencing employment as required under section 3 of the Act. The Adjudication Officer awarded the Complainant the maximum award of four weeks’ pay amounting to €1,530 euros.

The Adjudication Officer noted that while understanding the Respondents difficulties at the time and his acceptance that the manner in which he dismissed the employee was “not great”, the employee deserved better in the manner in which he was informed his apprenticeship/employment was being terminated.

With regard to the complaint under the Employment Equality Act, the Adjudication Officer held that the Complainant’s case does not stand up to scrutiny as all the actions alleged of as being discriminatory (eg the desk in the canteen area, not given laptop or phone) had taken place prior to the Complainant informing the Respondent of his cancer diagnosis and therefore could not have resulted from the Complainant informing the Respondent of his disability.

Given the Complainant’s complaint of penalisation was made after the Complainant left his employment, the Adjudication Officer found no evidence that the Complainant was penalised by the Respondent. The Respondent’s grounds for terminating the employment relationship do not amount to penalisation.

The Adjudication Officer noted that a duplicate complaint was made by the Complainant under the Industrial Relations Acts and the Employment Equality Acts.  However, the Employer did not follow fair procedures in relation to advising the employee he was terminating his employment. The Adjudication Officer recommended in favour of the employee on the basis that proper and fair procedures were not followed to inform the employee his employment was being terminated and the Respondent was ordered to pay the Complainant the sum of €500 in compensation.

Guidance for Employers

While the Respondent was not found to have acted in a discriminatory manner towards the employee in this case, the subject matter does highlight the importance of engaging with an employee regarding their disability once an employer has notice of this regarding potential reasonable accommodations.  In addition, this case also highlights the importance of adhering to the requirement to provide a written statement of terms and conditions.  Finally, and unsurprisingly the matter of the importance of fair procedures was highlighted when the Adjudication Officer noted that proper and fair procedures were not followed to inform the employee his employment was being terminated. 
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/cases/2022/september/adj-00036199.html