unfair dismissal case -
Illness/performance dismissal:
- William commenced work as a Technical Assistant in 2010. His work involves 70% field work and 30% administrative work. William took 2 months personal leave in 2013 and was diagnosed with a depressive disorder. He was then subsequently admitted to hospital for a one month period. There is currently no related workers’ compensation claim.
- William commenced a return to work programme with Random Research in 2014 and returned to full time work at the beginning of 2015. Random Research have assisted William by providing 12 months paid psychiatric counselling which has recently ended.
- William’s performance however is causing issues amongst his co-workers who are having to pick up some of his workload. He regularly forgets to do routine tasks and lacks concentration which has led to complaints from clients and put several valuable contracts at risk.
- Recently William has been taking personal leave but has refused requests to provide medical certificates for that leave. William has recently been given leave on full pay and directed to see an independent psychiatrist. The HR Manager has been provided with a copy of that report which states that William cannot perform all of the tasks he is required to do. In particular, he cannot reliably perform the field work. He can however perform some of the administrative tasks.
- The HR manager has also been provided with a report from William’s treating psychiatrist stating that he has had no depressive symptoms for 3 months and is fit for work. Overall the HR Manager prefers the independent medical and terminates William’s employment on the basis he cannot perform the key requirements of the job. He is terminated and paid 4 weeks pay in lieu of notice.
above is the case and I have to give recommendations and argue my point from the view point of being the Employer Representative.