Unfair termination of employment in times of global pandemic RUSSIANIRELAND

To put it bluntly, the employers in the Irish jurisdiction can terminate your employment for good, bad or no reason whatsoever as long as the employer complies with the contract terms.

However, under the law your bosses must justify this on the grounds of conduct, competence, capability, redundancy or some other substantial reason and usually a formal process involve. There is a legislation in place to ensure the employee is not dismissed “unfairly or arbitrarily” however each case can differ and the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977-2015 may be applied variously. Under the common law practice, the employer has to give a reasonable notice even if the notice to you was only verbal.

I would outline some practical tips to consider prior to engaging a solicitor for an advice:-

· When you are notified of any potential termination of your position, be it permanent or temporary you need to assess how the management approached you with the notice. Did they meet with you, did they hand you anything in writing? Was there some sort of process (disciplinary or Redundancy) whereby you could appeal a decision? The timing is important in these situations as often whilst you are in shock or aggravation after hearing the news you may not act as promptly as you were allocated under the contract or as per any written letters you may have received. Always check the date on the letter and the date on which you received such notice, it could also be important. Check what paperwork you have from your employer, such as contract of employment or terms of employment.

· The factual information is key in matters of employment law. You may be aware of your Manager’s attitude to you. Was there something personal that may have contributed to your situation. Did you ever think you were getting picked on and was there anything unusual in the actions of your employer towards you, your colleagues? Take a note of it, inclusive of time, date, names of those people implicated as it may be relevant.

But what can you do about your sudden terminated position in times of a global pandemic and economic downturn?

In times of such shock in top of your already existing worry about the future income and health sometimes it is hard to adequately assess what redress you may avail of.

You may have been informed that you were made temporarily redundant, i.e laid off or put on short term. It means that this job loss occurred on the grounds unrelated to you specifically, such as the coronavirus or the current economic climate. You must be certain that the reason you were made redundant is not personal to you. That means if you are informed of any misconduct or other reasons for your selection then you were not made redundant for proper reasons.

If you are currently on temporary redundancy, what assurances did you receive from your employer and what notice, if any did you receive?

You need to look into your contract of employment to confirm if there is any term inserted on matters of lay-offs allowing for deduction of pay and it may be an illegal deduction if it does occur without such a term in the contract. In short, any reduction or halt of your wage pay during the laying off or short time without any agreement with you as an employee could be illegal contrary to the Payment of Wages Act 1991. Keep a record of the time period since the notice of your temporary redundancy or short term as further statutory pay may be available to you under the Redundancy Payments Acts if the time period is excessive and cannot therefore be considered temporary.

You need to advise your solicitor if you are not the only employee affected by redundancy in the workplace. There is a consultation process requirement with the representatives of the employees to facilitate a dialogue with the employer and it is a strict obligation to provide you and the representatives with full set of facts in writing.

The rights of the employees are still enforceable and valid even in times of crisis. The employer should still follow the guidelines and own legal obligations when letting people go. The termination of your employment may be found invalid and as such you should seek legal advice if you think the redundancy was somewhat unfair and unreasonable. If there are various factors that led to your job loss I would advise against spending too much to try to research for any redress options as often it can lead to missing a statutory or contractual deadline whereas the solicitors are in better position to investigate these matters.