Unfair Dismissal

[grandmoon]

A friends Granddaughter was working for a large retail store. 

Last Thursday when she knocking off she was at a checkout paying for something she was buying when a customer complained that she and the checkout operator were not working but just talking. 

On friday when she arrived at work she was called into her supervisors office and after a short conversation she was sacked on the spot. 

This was the first time she had been in trouble.

[nevynreally]

You don't get instantly dismissed unless you're a thief, defrauded the company, intoxicated on the job, gross or serious misconduct does not require notice. Anything else you need 3 warnings for. 

Way more to this story than has been provided.

[cherry*135]

That is point I have been trying to make. But you said it in a more concise way.

This story is 3rd hand - there is the girl who was dismissed who passes it on to her grandma, grandma passes it on to her friend... that friend posts it here. It is .lacking in essential details.

Reasonable questions I have asked for further details ( eg: how many days a week did girl work at the store, on what actual grounds the dismissal was based on) get ignored.

[izabsmiling]

Grandmoon  may not have all the answers to the questions asked here only  what her friend ,the Grandmother has told her ? .The Grandmother herself may not know the whole situation .

I hope that it is all followed up and things sorted out 

[cherry*135]

True iza, but how can people give informed advice if they don't know the full circumstances?

If the Grandmother of the girl is taking her to the Union and Fair Work Australia (phoning them I presume) she should know all the details before they set off to do that.

[happyroo_bunji]

I bet you anything it wasn't a customer who complained.

I have been told there were customer complaints when there weren't customers in the area or only staff members around.  Oh and 2IC told me they always say a customer complained when a staff member did so you wouldn't  get angry at them.

[*crikey*mate*]

How many days a week does she work there? Could be only 1 for all we know.

What exactly was the reason for dismissal?

Pretty sure PPT is between 8 and 32 hours per week - so if the lass worked 5 hours a day, she must have worked at least 2 days a week.

Plus OP said she had recently been moved or promoted (can't remember) etc as she was a good employee.

OP = it does sound sus - cos with the exception of theft I'm pretty sure you do have to have 3 written warnings before you can get sacked - at least in those bigger places - but I could be wrong - been a while since I've had to deal with hiring employees.

[cherry*135]

Permanent part time is a minimum of 4 hours a day, don't think there is any minimum of days per week you have to be offered. May depend on the award also I suppose.

Employees can work for years as casuals doing up to as many hours as full time.

[allygirl06]

These days you can be a PPT with 0 hours.  Kind of defeats the purpose really.  This happens is retail.

[cherry*135]

General Retail Industry Award 2010

Part Time Employees

12.5  An employer is required to roster a part - time employee for a minimum of three consecutive hours on any shift.

12.6       An employee who does not meet the definition of a part - time employee and who is not a full - time employee will be paid as a casual employee in accordance with clause 13.

https://extranet.deewr.gov.au/ccmsv8/CiLiteKnowledgeDetailsFrameset.htm?KNOWLEDGE_REF=216298&TYPE=X&ID=1547046589102877488889912894&DOCUMENT_REF=375086&DOCUMENT_TITLE=General%20Retail%20Industry%20Award%202010&DOCUMENT_CODE=MA000004

[madammuck]

At Woolies, minimum PPT hrs is 10hpw reconciled over 4 weeks (40hrs over 4 weeks? - can't recall), miminum shift is 3hpw regardless of whether you're PPT or casual. Not sure about BigW but I imagine the award is similar.

The dismissal process is the usual 3 warnings except in cases where a criminal offence is proven, yet even then the merits of the case must be considered before appropriate action is taken. However, if another misdemeanor arises where the circumstances of the behaviour are different to the first, then the 3 warning process starts again.

In a big organisation like Woolies, I hardly think a supervisor has the discretion to sack an employee on the spot. There is usually lots of paperwork involved, store manager involvement, area manager involvement, HR involvement etc.

There is much more to the story ..... and I worked for Woolies for nearly 10 yrs as a PPT employee. Dismissals were not that simple.