Employer argued he showed poor performance during remaining notice period
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) recently dealt with an unfair dismissal claim after a worker said he was dismissed after he gave his resignation notice.
On the other hand, the employer said it noticed significant performance issues after he handed in his intention to resign.
On 8 December 2022, Christopher Taylor let his employer, Quick Plumbing Group, know that he planned to resign, stating that his last day would be 6 January 2023.
In his resignation letter, he also offered to help with the transition if needed. Then, on 13 December, which was the third working day after giving notice, Taylor had a meeting with Ramsay Hajaj (Construction Manager) and Kerrie McDermott (Finance Manager). It was during this meeting that the employment relationship came to an end.
Taylor believed that he was dismissed during this meeting, while the employer argued that he willingly agreed to end his employment early.
According to Taylor, during the meeting, Hajaj and McDermott brought up various alleged workplace conduct issues without giving him any prior notice.
Performance issues after notice
Quick Plumbing Group said it had concerns about Taylor's work performance for a while, but those concerns became more apparent after he handed in his resignation.
According to the employer, Taylor started spending an “unacceptably long” amount of time on personal calls after he had given notice.
Both McDermott and Mario Martinovic, the Maintenance Manager, independently noticed Taylor's excessive personal calls and felt compelled to bring the matter to Hajaj's attention. The Commission noted that neither McDermott nor Martinovic worked closely with Taylor on a daily basis.
Employer’s version of events
According to Hajaj, when he had a meeting with Taylor on 13 December 2022 and mentioned that the company preferred him to end his employment early, he said Taylor “agreed very quickly.”
Hajaj stated that the rest of the conversation on that day only focused on the financial aspect, specifically how much Taylor would be paid for the remaining notice period.
The management said they raised allegations of misconduct against Taylor, which included recent attitude problems, lack of productivity, and excessive personal phone calls during work hours.
Taylor was informed that Quick Plumbing Group considered this behavior a deliberate violation of his employment contract, and no warning was necessary since it occurred during the notice period.
Worker’s version of events
However, according to Taylor's recollection of the conversation on 13 December, he said he didn't really have a choice but to agree to his employment ending right away. The Commission agreed with him on this matter.
In its decision, it said, “It is clear that Hajaj decided by day three of the notice period that Taylor’s employment had to finish earlier than the end of the notice period.”
According to records, “by the words used by Hajaj, if Taylor did not agree at that moment to his employment ending by ‘mutual agreement,’ he would have been dismissed.”
“As such, Taylor's employment was terminated ‘on the employer's initiative’ on that day,” it added.
HRD previously reported about a case involving a worker who alleged he was unfairly dismissed from work even when it was agreed that he would resign from his employment.
His employer there argued that no unfair dismissal took place as his “resignation was accepted” by the company.
The Commission’s decision
“Taylor was called into a meeting and dismissed without any prior discussion about the issues relied on by Quick Plumbing Group.”
“If Taylor’s timekeeping and phone calls were so significant that his employment was at risk, then [the employer] should have made it clear to Taylor in no uncertain terms what its expectations were before dismissing him,” the decision said.
“It is likely that once Taylor gave notice of his resignation that Quick Plumbing Group decided to accelerate [his] exit from the business.” Thus, the Commission said the worker’s dismissal was unfair, unreasonable and unjust.
