Misconduct Revisited

The cornerstone of the law around dismissal for misconduct is twofold. The reasonableness of a dismissal for misconduct will depend first on the fairness, or otherwise, of the investigation into the alleged misconduct and secondly on the treatment of that misconduct as a sufficient reason for dismissal. The late 1970s case of British Home Stores v. Burchell remains authority for the proposition that a misconduct dismissal will only be fair if, at the time of the dismissal, the employer believed the employee to be guilty of misconduct; it had reasonable grounds for that belief; and, at the time it held that belief, it had carried out a reasonable investigation. 

In recent months, two misconduct cases have considered whether serious misconduct or a series of acts of misconduct can warrant dismissal.