Ms Kisheva worked as a door supervisor for Secure Frontline Services for 3 years. During one of her shifts,  she had an argument with her colleague and as a result, left work before the end  of her shift.  Although Ms Kisheva notified her team leader that she was leaving, she was later dismissed for gross misconduct. 

For  a dismissal to be fair,  an employer must carry out a reasonable investigation and follow a fair disciplinary procedure. 

In this case, Secure Frontline Services failed to conduct any investigation and did not follow a fair procedure before dismissing Ms Kisheva. 

Ms Kisheva therefore  issued a claim for unfair dismissal against her employer, seeking a basic award and a compensation award for her losses.

The Employment Tribunal held that Ms Kisheva had been unfairly dismissed.  However, it reduced her compensation by 100% on the basis that  she had failed to immediately telephone her employer to notify them that she was leaving the workplace.

Ms Kisheva appealed this decision arguing that the Employment Tribunal had reached the wrong conclusion. Ms Kisheva maintained that she had informed her team leader that she was leaving and that there was no policy requiring her to notify her employer by telephone.   Ms Kisheva went further to state that, even if she had failed to notify her employer via a telephone call, then this would not have amounted to an act of gross misconduct.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal agreed with Ms Kisheva.  It held  that there was no policy requiring employees  to make an additional phone call to notify their employer that they were leaving work.  As a result, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that Ms Kisheva’s compensation should not have been reduced by 100%

The case has now been remitted for a fresh remedy hearing to decide how much compensation Ms Kisheva would be entitled to. 

This case reminds employers that they must ensure a fair procedure and investigation are completed before any decision to dismiss an employee is made. Any required procedures should be clearly documented in an updated staff handbook, and all employees should be made aware of any policy changes.

For more advice, please contact our Employment Team.