As mentioned yesterday, absence is something of a hot topic at the moment.
Those that are angling for dismissals got their way today in a seemingly straight forward case, which has turned out to be anything but, and as such could come back to haunt us.
One of our newer employees failed to turn up for work until today, when he should have been back last Wednesday.
Not only did he fail to turn up, but he also failed to notify the company as to why he was absent.
His feeble excuse for this was that he did not know our telephone number. Obviously he doesn’t watch any of the countless Channel 4 shows sponsored by '118’, who I’m sure may have been able to assist him.
Anyway, I digress. The management team for his area decided to get rid of him immediately, with payment in lieu of notice, as they believed he was still within his probationary period.
Apparently they did consult a senior member of our HR team before doing this, but somehow, between all of them, they failed to notice that the probation period actually lapsed a few weeks ago.
It was not until hours after the event that this somewhat relevant fact was picked up on.
So, far from being a straightforward case of failing a probation, we have now effectively sacked someone for gross misconduct without any of the due process that goes along with such.
What a mess. Our only hope is that he hasn’t realised…
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