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Capability or qualifications dismissals

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  • Date:
    22 May 1981
    Type:
    Employment law cases

    Capability: Alidair gross incompetence test limited

    The Court of Appeal's decision in Alidair Ltd v Taylor is authority for the proposition that there are circumstances in which an employee's incompetence can be so great that it is unnecessary to give him an opportunity to improve. The effect of the Court of Appeal's more recent decision in Inner London Education Authority v Lloyd, however, is to limit the application of the Alidair case. Rejecting an analogy of the case of Mr Lloyd, a probationary teacher, to that of Mr Taylor, an airline pilot, the Appeal Court points out that in Alidair the safety of a large number of people was involved.

  • Date:
    7 October 1980
    Type:
    Employment law cases

    Capability: Dismissal for intermittent sickness absence

    Where an employee is absent from work for a substantial period of time through illness it is well established that employers must take proper steps to ascertain the true medical position and, once this has been done, to consult with the employee before deciding whether or not to dismiss. However, as the EAT has recently emphasised in International Sports Co Ltd v Thomson and Rolls-Royce Ltd v Walpole, these principles are inappropriate where the employee is frequently absent as a result of unconnected minor ailments.

  • Date:
    1 November 1978
    Type:
    Employment law cases

    Sutton & Gates (Luton) Ltd v Boxall

    In Sutton & Gates (Luton) Ltd v Boxall [1978] IRLR 486 EAT, the EAT held that the Industrial Tribunal had not erred in holding that the respondent employee's dismissal on grounds of lack of capability was unfair because he had not been given an opportunity to offer an explanation for his poor performance.

  • Date:
    15 August 1977
    Type:
    Employment law cases

    Unfair dismissal: Failure to follow a correct procedure

    In Mansfield Hosiery Mills Lid v Bromley, the EAT emphasises that it is only in exceptional cases that a failure to follow a correct procedure will not result in a finding of unfair dismissal.

  • Date:
    1 May 1977
    Type:
    Employment law cases

    The Post Office v PA Mughal

    In Post Office v PA Mughal [1977] IRLR 178 EAT, the EAT established that the general test of fairness in dismissing a probationary employee is whether the employer took reasonable steps to maintain appraisal of the probationer throughout the probationary period, giving guidance by advice or warning, and whether an honest effort was made to determine whether he or she came up to the required standard.

  • Date:
    1 May 1977
    Type:
    Employment law cases

    East Lindsey District Council v G E Daubney

    In East Lindsey District Council v G E Daubney [1977] IRLR 181 EAT, the EAT held that a failure to investigate an employee's medical condition and prognosis prior to dismissal for capability would normally result in unfair dismissal.