Mr Amanuel Ghebrehiwt v Wilson James Ltd — 2022

The claimant was employed as a Customer Service Security Officer and was summarily dismissed on 11 March 2021. He brought claims for unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal, and an accrued holiday pay claim which was resolved by agreement. The respondent said the dismissal was for conduct, namely absence from work without authorisation from 27 January to 4 March 2021.

The tribunal found that the claimant accepted he had not sought authorisation for his absence, while maintaining that he did not need it because he was caring for his mother. The tribunal rejected his suggestion that there had been a conspiracy to dismiss him and found no evidence that contact records had been fraudulently altered. It found that the respondent had reasonable grounds for believing the claimant was absent without authority and had carried out a reasonable investigation and fair procedure.

The tribunal considered the claimant's argument about time off for dependants under section 57A ERA 1996, although no automatic unfair dismissal claim had been brought. It found that the provision did not entitle the claimant to take unauthorised time off to provide ongoing care in the circumstances of the case, and that the period claimed would not be a reasonable amount of time off. The tribunal concluded that the respondent was entitled to treat the unauthorised absence as gross misconduct and that dismissal fell within the band of reasonable responses.