Eastern European worker treated badly by employer...

A polish guy I know, who I can vouch for being extremely hard working and a very good chef got a job in Cork as a comi chef. He was told that he'd get a promotion and increased salary after 6 months all going well. After 8 months he asked for his promotion. 2 days later the manager said he did a poor job cleaning the fridge and gave him a formal warning. 2 days later again he cut his finger while chopping vegetables and the manager gave him his 2nd warning and fired him. The polish guy told me that other employees did a far worse job cleaning the fridge without getting a warning and likewise for cutting themselves while using a knife. Also, there is a history of previous employees asking for promotions and then getting fired soon after. This guy is extremely upset and is heading back to Poland asap as it was his second bad experience in Irish restaurant industry. Has he any case for wrongful dismissal? Is there anyone he can go to? He's not a member of any union.

Hi Joe, I've removed the name of the employer, mainly so the worker can't be identified.

Does he have the promotion and salary offer after 6 months in writing?

I think there is alot of this type of thing going on. I know of a polish truck driver that was driving for an irish company. He had very little English. He got broke down on the 66 in North England last winter on a very cold day. His employer couldnt get any repair man out until the next morning and told the driver to sleep in the truck for the night . The fact that the truck was broken down he couldnt use the heating system. the next day my cousin who is in the haulage business in the north of England notice him pull in and it being an Irish reg. truck (thats not saying he wouldnt have help anyway) he offered help. He brought the polish guy back to his house and kept him for two nights until he got the truck fix. That guy was getting paid €200.00 per week.

Did the guy have a contract? Does it say anything about promotion?

Have you looked at OASIS? Loads of useful info on employment etc.

Even though he isn't in a union, I'm sure they would be happy to offer advice.

MugsGame said:

Hi Joe, I've removed the name of the employer, mainly so the worker can't be identified.

Does he have the promotion and salary offer after 6 months in writing?

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No, the only thing he has in writing are his two formal warning letters.
The first one says that his promotion will be delayed 6 months though.

Did they give him a written copy of his contract / conditions of employment at the outset? If not, I believe that in itself is a breach of the legislation.

See here for some discussion on rights of employees terminated before 12 months.

The first warning letter could be useful in any Labour Court case. It talks about postponing the promotion. From that it can be inferred that there was an initial agreement to promote him after a period shorter than 8 months. It could be further inferred that there was an implied probationary period which he had successfully passed. Even if the case goes in his favour, it's unlikely he would get more than 4 weeks pay.

SIPTU seem to be handling more of these types of cases. It might be worth asking them from advice.

you cannot get a formal warning for cutting yourself at work - its an accident. HSA would be interested in hearing about it. I personally would boycot the restaurant - hit them in the pocket.

nelly said:

you cannot get a formal warning for cutting yourself at work - its an accident. HSA would be interested in hearing about it. I personally would boycot the restaurant - hit them in the pocket.

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Correct, and therefore it is not ground for dismissal. Even though he had not worked there for a year and so was not covered by most employment rights legislation if the cut finger was cited as the reason for sacking him he should have a case against his employer. As he is Polish and does not plan to stay here it may be more hassle than it's worth to pursue.