Raby is bitten but wound is healed
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A LINCOLN company has been ordered to pay £470 compensation to a driver who was unfairly selected for redundancy.
An Industrial Tribunal heard that Lincoln Plastics Ltd employed Thomas Andrew Raby as a Class 3 driver, and that the company had responded to the recession by making six of its 26 employees redundant, and laying off another six.
Mr Raby had longer service than any other driver with the company, but he was sacked because there had been complaints about his low rate of work and his apparent unwillingness to do non-driving duties.
It was clear that there had been some complaints from customers, but the Tribunal said it was not satisfied that Mr Raby was too slow. While it accepted that he was unwilling to do extra duties, these had never been properly explained to him.
He had done whatever he was asked to do, but he never volunteered unless asked specifically. If management expected him to do other work on his own initiative, then it should have dealt with this much earlier.
The Tribunal said it was not satisfied about an allegation that Mr Raby loaded his vehicle inefficiently and unsystematically.
It added that the driver was the only trades union member among the drivers. While he was not selected for redundancy because of this, he certainly found less favour with his employer because he asked for his £60 basic wage to be increased by £14 to the rate agreed with the Road Haulage Association.
But it was the manner of Mr Raby's dismissal which upset the Tribunal. While the company was small, it had still to meet minimum acceptable standards.
Mr Raby was dismissed without prior warning. He could have been told about the forthcoming redundancies and informed even at that late hour that he was expected to change his attitude. He might well have complied rather than lose his job.