Rameni Caussy gets legal guidance this week from Helen Badger, employment law expert at Browne Jacobson and Martin Brewer, a Partner with the employment team of Mills & Reeve on the law regarding the obligation to pay an employee dismissed while in the early stages of their probationary period.
The question:
“We have a situation where we have recruited someone with a three month probationary period. He was late on his first two days and called in sick on the third day at work. He was then dismissed.
“We have paid him for the two days that he worked or more likely being given training on the job. However the decision is being debated. Some managers say that we should not have paid him because he wasted our time and hence resources. Could anyone give me their opinion about this? Legally we have to pay him for hours worked but does this apply in this case?”
The answers:
Helen Badger, employment law expert, Browne Jacobson
In any employment relationship, there are certain duties on both the part of the employer and the employee that are implied in the contract of employment, even if there is no express written contract in place. In the case of the employer the principal duty is to pay the wages or salary agreed between the parties. This is, of course, provided the employee actually supplies the work.
In this case, the employee complied with his part of the agreement by turning up to work. It is not relevant that this time would have been used to undergo a period of training or that he was in a probationary period. The employee is therefore entitled to receive payment for these two days. Whilst it is tempting not to pay him when he wasted your time in this way, a failure to do so would be a breach of contract and an unlawful deduction from wages.
Helen can be contacted at: hbadger@brownejacobson.com
