final warning couldn't be used

A recent Employment Authority case gives employers guidance on how a series of warnings can be used. A caregiver in a private hospital was given a final warning for not following procedures after a patient broke her leg. Later the employee was dismissed after being one hour late for work. The Authority found the dismissal had incorrectly relied on the earlier final warning. The Authority held that the final warning could apply only if the employee was guilty of the same kind of misconduct or other non-performance. The Authority based this view on the wording of the employment agreement which restricted "an employee on a final written warning from being dismissed for an unrelated minor offence which would otherwise justify only a relatively minor reprimand".

The employee was awarded 12 weeks' lost wages of $4800 and $2250 as compensation for humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to her feelings.

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