A horrid former employee is claiming unfair dismissal. Help!

Dear Aunty B,

I was forced to let an employee go for appalling behavior. He was late to work, unreliable, shoddy, never did anything unless you chased him up, but the final straw was that he ended up physically threatening another staff member at a staff function, although he now says he was joking.

Anyway, I dismissed him and now he is claiming unfair dismissal. It feels like the last straw for me. We are only a very small company and the thought of dealing with lawyers, wigs, courts and fighting this case is making me sick, at a time when things aren’t going so well in the business.

I have always prided myself on a fantastic work environment and relationship with staff so I feel personally embarrassed to have this claim on me.

Help!
Z

Dear Z,

What do we do when we feel overwhelmed? Hmm? No, we don’t get drunk on an icy cold gin and tonic with a twist of lemon from your tree out the back.

Here is what we do. We break this down into small chunks. What is most important? No, it’s not character disordered former employee whom is now out of your life. It is your business. Focus on that. The employee is now a side issue that you are going to delegate. You are going to ask one of your staff to take this on. And you are going to put it in perspective. There won’t be any courts. Of the 3,200 unfair dismissal claims made in the first three months of 2011 79% were settled after conciliation and most of those were done over the phone. So forget the wigs. You are all going to hook up, have a talk, make an agreement and move on. Okay? Oh alright. You can have one gin. Then get to work.

Be smart!
Your Aunty B

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