30 Oct Probationary Periods
Firstly, in decision IR-SC- 00002724, the employee, a Fund Accountant had been told she was successfully completing her probation period, but when moved to working under a new team leader things changed and she felt that she was being unfairly treated and subjected to extreme scrutiny of her performance, including her tasks being timed. This then led to her dismissal following two meetings held on 28th May and 5th June 2024.
The employer contended that the employee had not passed her probation and used the one-week notice clause in her contract to effect dismissal during the probationary period due to lack of progress in a number of areas and failure to complete training which had been brought to her attention.
The Adjudicator agreed that the employee had been informed of performance issues, and that there was a contractual right to terminate during probation but noted that no alternative was considered such as extending the probationary period in the circumstances that arose where the employee felt very challenged and upset about the demands being placed on her.
A recommendation was made for the employer to pay one month’s salary.
In decision ADJ-00051951, the employee, a Business Support Manager for careering services in the Healthcare Sector claimed his dismissal during the probationary period was unfair, and he did not receive any explanation in witing for the dismissal.
The employee advised he had been told at the 3-month stage he was on track but got no assessment information as per the template in place. The employee was then told at the five – month stage that his probation period was being extended by two months, as he needed more sector specific support to get him up to standard. He understood this to be a formality but was then dismissed two weeks later and paid six weeks’ pay.
The Adjudicator concluded that the dismissal was unfair due to the manner in which employment was terminated two weeks after the probation period had been extended for two months, without any warning, right to appeal, right to be accompanied etc.
The employee was awarded €2,600 in compensation and it was recommended that a specific probation policy was put in place to outline how issues of performance and conduct would be handled during the probation period.
Whilst these decisions fall under the Industrial Relations legislation in the form of non-binding recommendations and are not at the level of some of the headline unfair dismissal awards that we often see, the additional costs associated with being involved in a WRC process and potential bad publicity for a business are also to be considered and easily avoided with a structured approach to probationary reviews. This requires that feedback is given early on, with clear messaging on what improvements are required, as well as alerting employees to the consequences of not meeting required standards.
In addition, a clear contractual clause as to when dismissal may be applied during the probationary period is also required.