Business Employment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Employment Law - Essay Example As it appears, all other employees apart from Mark agreed to work overtime. In his submission, Mark indicated that he was not under any contractual obligation to work overtime. This infuriated Rebecca who decided to take the matter to the manager. However, it is also indicated that there was always bad blood between the two employees, and this seemed to be an opportunity to settle the scores. The dismissal of mark from the work is unacceptable and therefore he has the right of appeal. While the law provides the employers with the prerogative to dismiss employees for gross misconduct and without warning, the case of Mark is different. Firstly, the company should have let the employees know of the staff shortage. Secondly, such employees ought to have been requested to offer themselves for overtime work to compensate for losses incurred due to such shortage of employees. As it stands, the request to have Mark work beyond his normal hours appears to be an ambush. In addition to that, th e manner in which the information was passed to him is also wanting. It is vital to note that employees just like employers, have their personal rights1. On that material day for instance, Mark had an appointment with his girlfriend. He made such arrangement because he had not been informed of any changes by his boss. Therefore, it seems that the company suffers from lack of good communication and relationship with the employees. Thirdly, the dismissal is unjustified based on the fact that when Mark was employed, he signed a contract that indicated the time that he was to be in the job. His decision however mean it may seem to be was justified. There was no prior complaint that he failed to provide quality work because of incompetent or any other factor. It therefore seems that he was a dedicated person who understood his rights well. It seems that the management failed to conduct its independent investigations to ascertain the allegations2. Relying on the information provided to th em by a fellow employee was wrong since there could have been other reasons which could have prompted Mark to take the decision he did. Even if this was a gross misconduct according to the management, law requires that investigation is carried out. For instance, it is indicated that Rebecca and Mark had a malfunctioned relationship which affected their communication. It is therefore possible that this was a malicious act meant to punish Mark by dismissing him. She may have passed communication to other employees about the overtime work and failed to let Mark know in advance. The management therefore was in contravention of the statutes guiding dismissal. There are various unfair grounds through which one may be dismissed. They include lack of good reason, being asked for flexible hours and also if one refuse to work overtime. From the case, it is outright that the firm did not have objective grounds to dismiss Mark. He was dismissed immediately even though he was innocent. He had a right to choose either to work or not. Employees have their flexible time which they may choose to offer or not. Depending on prior communication with the company, employees may choose to comply or refuse. From the above mentioned facts, it seems that Mark is entitled to make a claim of unfair dismissal and get remedies. The law gives him the right to make such a claim through a trade union3. Some of the methods that would be used to address this issue may include mediation and