Threat of probation dismissal

Eager Jasper was desperate to make a good early impression in his new job – but he got off to the worst possible start.

He was in his role as a family support worker for just four months when he faced the threat of dismissal.

Jasper was invited to a disciplinary hearing due to concerns about poor record keeping -lack of details noted, poor spelling and grammar - regarding interactions with families.

He was warned the allegations were serious and could lead to dismissal.

Worried Jasper contacted our Employee Support Centre for help.

He later spoke to one of our experienced trade union representatives, who discussed the case with him, and wanted to understand any issues that may have contributed to the concerns raised about his work.

The information Jasper provided in response would be pivotal in his case.

Jasper revealed to our trade union representative he had dyslexia and dyspraxia.

He did inform his employer at the outset of his employment, was assured he would be provided with software to help with reading and writing, but it was never installed on his PC or laptop.

As the disciplinary action being taken against Jasper could be considered to be directly linked to his dyslexia and dyspraxia, which could be deemed a disability under the Equality Act 2010, our trade union representative believed the process was unfair and the action being taken amount to discrimination.

Employees are protected from all forms of discrimination, e.g. disability, age, race, religion etc, from day one of employment.

Our trade union representative discussed with Jasper the best approach to deal with the allegation against him.

It involved raising a grievance on grounds, which included disability discrimination and that the disciplinary process was unfair.

The grievance letter drafted and submitted by our trade union representative asked for the disciplinary hearing to be suspended, which the employer could do in line with guidance with the ACAS Code of Practice.

The employer refused to do so. It insisted it would proceed with the hearing as planned, and if Jasper did not attend it would conduct it in his absence.

There followed an exchange of email correspondence with Jasper’s female manager in which our trade union representative made clear the employer was acting unreasonably, and he continued to strongly assert why the grievance must be resolved first.

The employer was adamant and would not shift in its stance. That was until our trade union representative requested details as to how he could escalate concerns about the manager’s handling of the case.

The manager said that rather than do a disciplinary hearing, she would conduct a probation review instead, as Jasper was still in his probation period.

Our trade union representative pointed out Jasper had a legitimate grievance, which still needed to be addressed prior to any meeting or hearing to consider his performance.

He repeated the request for details as to how concerns about the manager’s handling of the matter could be escalated.

It eventually led to Jasper and our trade union representative attending a grievance hearing with a director of the organisation.

Prior to that hearing, our trade union representative, in preparation for it, requested Jasper’s job application and health declaration completed at the outset of his employment along with a copy of the probation policy. He was provided with both.

It was evident Jasper had declared he had dyslexia and dyspraxia, and that the company probation review process had not been followed, in terms of a review every month, and support and training offered if an employee was struggling.

This information was presented by our trade union representative to maintain that treatment of Jasper could be considered to amount to disability discrimination, which included a failure to make reasonable adjustments, and in addition that the company had not followed its own probation review policy.

The grievance was upheld, Jasper was provided with software to assist him, and later he did successfully pass his extended probation period.