texting out of line

Did you see that decision of Fair Work Australia the day before last on the employee winning her case for unfair dismissal after being sacked via text message?

In short, the employee had changed shifts without permission and was late for work.The employer, on Boxing Day no less, had sent a text saying that she was sacked and not to bother coming back in.

There are problems with this on so many levels it is difficult to know where to begin.Obviously, it is a terrible way for an employee to be informed that they no longer have a job, even in this age of texting replacing many alternative forms of communication.More importantly, from an employment law perspective, the employee was not warned about any performance issues and , crucially, did not have an opportunity to explain, nor improve her performance.Whether or not the employer is a small business(less than 15 employees), warnings are required.

Furthermore, there was not one iota of due process followed.When terminating employees, the process is often just as important as the reasons for dismissal.What should have happened , in the case of a decision to terminate, was that the employee should have been called in for a face to face meeting and allowed a support perosn present, where the decision could be communicated face to face.

Common sense, you think?Unfortunately, common sense is not all that common.....