Employment Law Question(s)
Discussion
Are there any friendly employment lawyers or people familiar with the law that can offer some advice to the situation below?
Sales agent hands in one months notice written notice to employers. The following day employers discover that sales agent has been using his company car and fuel card for long distance personal trips, most of which are related to the agents replacement job he has been lining up. Agent gets called into a meeting with seniors who show him the evidence and after being given no reasonable explanation or apology they fire the agent for gross misconduct (as defined in his contract) as company cars are not for personal use, same for fuel card. He is given the news at the time verbally and a letter is posted to his address on the same day.
9 months later the sales agent files a case with acas for unfair dismissal and asks for an employment tribunal with 6 months of pay as compensation. What is the likelyhood of the case being thrown out?
Sales agent hands in one months notice written notice to employers. The following day employers discover that sales agent has been using his company car and fuel card for long distance personal trips, most of which are related to the agents replacement job he has been lining up. Agent gets called into a meeting with seniors who show him the evidence and after being given no reasonable explanation or apology they fire the agent for gross misconduct (as defined in his contract) as company cars are not for personal use, same for fuel card. He is given the news at the time verbally and a letter is posted to his address on the same day.
9 months later the sales agent files a case with acas for unfair dismissal and asks for an employment tribunal with 6 months of pay as compensation. What is the likelyhood of the case being thrown out?
Sorry got the dates wrong. Notice was handed in on 27/01/2015, employee was sacked on 28/01/2015. Claim was filed by ACAS in March and response paperwork arrived last week.
Company cars are tracked and employers are aware of this. Vehicles are parked at the employee's home overnight, they do travel to the office in time as well as out in the field. Employees are told that the cars are for work use only, The amount paid for by employee for private use of the car box on the P11D form is blank. Other reasons were given for the dismissal including not working the contracted hours (proven by vehicle tracking information) and not following direct orders/instructions from a manager.
As far as I know notice was handed in after an offer of employment was received from his new employer in Cornwall. From what I can tell by the tracking data the car was used to travel to Cornwall for the interview for that job.
Company cars are tracked and employers are aware of this. Vehicles are parked at the employee's home overnight, they do travel to the office in time as well as out in the field. Employees are told that the cars are for work use only, The amount paid for by employee for private use of the car box on the P11D form is blank. Other reasons were given for the dismissal including not working the contracted hours (proven by vehicle tracking information) and not following direct orders/instructions from a manager.
As far as I know notice was handed in after an offer of employment was received from his new employer in Cornwall. From what I can tell by the tracking data the car was used to travel to Cornwall for the interview for that job.
Employee was called into a meeting with two managers and two directors present. He was told of the situation and shown the facts. No response or reply was given to justify the use of company car and fuel card and no reason was given for not working contracted hours. He was informed that his contract had been terminated in person then and by post with the letter arriving the next working day. No appeal was offered and no further communication received until the ACAS paperwork arrived. I just wanted some advice from knowledgeable folk as I'm responsible for dealing with the paperwork despite not being present in the meeting.
Thanks for the replies and help. I'll send off the response to ACAS tomorrow.
Thanks for the replies and help. I'll send off the response to ACAS tomorrow.
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