What should HR do when an employee is overheard criticising their boss? Alan Lewis comments in People Management

An employment tribunal has found that an employee was unfairly dismissed after having been overheard making critical remarks about their manager. The employee received a final written warning, but later conversations around the breakdown of the relationship between the employee and their manager led to the employee's resignation.

The tribunal ruled that this amounted to constructive unfair dismissal, since no new evidence justified ending employment beyond the original warning.

Constantine Law employment partner, Alan Lewis sees this as a “cautionary tale” for businesses. “Where the employer reasonably opted for a final written warning, later trying to end the employment on a ‘relationship breakdown’ basis – without new, compelling evidence – rendered the dismissal unfair,” he explains. 

Read the full piece here.