Learner driver gets £7,987 for sacking
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• A driver has been driving Class III vehicles since 1972, while only holding a provisional HGV driving licence — but he has been awarded g7,987 compensation for unfair dismissal in a hearing before a Glasgow industrial tribunal.
Alexander Holmes had been sacked by Arbuckle Smith after he and the company were prosecuted for licence offences following a minor accident.
The tribunal said that when fIGV licences came into exist ence Holmes, who was already a lorry driver, applied talan exemption certificate. He received only a provisional HGV licence. Since then he has driven Class III vehicles on a succession of provisional HGV licences.
At no time did the authorities suggest he should take a test and Holmes showed each of his provisional licences to his depot manager.
The tribunal accepted that Holmes genuinely believed he was entitled to drive — and that the situation could not ha Ve continued if the company's management had not consistently failed in its duty.