Fixing the fallout from a repair to avoid serious harm to an employee’s career

Electrician Glenn was safety conscious, in his line of work let’s face it he had to be, so to be dismissed for working in an unsafe manner was devastating.

The incident occurred at a very stressful time and it was a momentarily lapse in Glenn’s otherwise exemplary 12 years’ of service with his employer.

He was on his way to a planned job when he was diverted to carry out an emergency repair. But getting to the job was problematic.

Glenn got stuck in heavy traffic on the motorway following a pile-up. He arrived late and stressed having had to deal with numerous phone calls from work and the client querying where he was and when he would get to the job.

His disciplinary hearing heard how he then repaired a high-voltage electrical panel without wearing the appropriate PPE.

One photograph taken of the work showed Glenn only wearing one protective glove.

The following day he was summoned to his manager’s office and asked about the image.

Glenn explained he did the repair wearing his gloves, and it was when he later checked the completed work that he made a mistake and did not realise. He said that at the time he felt stressed, under pressure and rushed and it was an honest oversight.

He made it clear he recognised the importance of wearing full PPE and apologised.

His manager emphasised the personal danger in what Glenn did, which he readily acknowledged and insisted he would never do again.

However, Glenn was told his actions were extremely serious.  He was suspended from work.

The subsequent disciplinary investigation established he had a case to answer.

Glenn was later invited to attend a disciplinary hearing to face allegations of gross misconduct.

He was remorseful and apologetic at the hearing. He detailed his skills and expertise in dealing with such jobs and his exemplary work record.

However, the disciplinary hearing concluded that Glenn had acted in a manner  that was unsafe, and he was dismissed.

Devastated Glenn believed the disciplinary outcome was unreasonable and that it amounted to an unfair dismissal.

He loved his job and vowed to challenge the decision with the hope of being reinstated. Glenn contacted our Employee Support Centre for help.

When Glenn spoke to our representative, he readily accepted what he did was wrong. He said he would have accepted a warning without complaint.

Our representative fully recognised the employer’s concerns, but felt the decision to dismiss was too harsh based on mitigation in the case. He helped Glenn to write and submit a disciplinary appeal.

This was after he had discussed the case at length and obtained information he felt could support the appeal.

At the appeal hearing our representative acknowledged Glenn breached health and safety protocol. But he maintained it was not a deliberate or flagrant breach.

The hearing was told it was a genuine oversight and out of character mistake at a time when he felt stressed, rushed and under undue pressure.

Our representative said it was important to put Glenn’s actions into context in the hope that the factors and circumstances, which contributed to what he did could be carefully and fairly considered.

The stress and chaos Glenn faced was explained, in him being diverted from a job;  being stuck in heavy motorway traffic; receiving numerous phone calls enroute querying where he was; not being able to find the job and having to cross a dual carriageway to get to it; and being berated by the client  for being late when he got there.

It was explained Glenn did the repair wearing both gloves, and it was only when he went back to double check what he had done, and take a photo of the repair, that he did so with one glove on.

Our representative stressed the additional mitigation in the remorse shown by Glenn, fact the concern was out of character and his long service and exemplary disciplinary record, meant that dismissal was not a reasonable outcome.

A week later Glenn was reinstated and his dismissal was downgraded to a written warning.