Houston wins appeal
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• A driver sacked by Carryfast for being off route without permission has been awarded 23,867.32 compensation for unfair dismissal.
According to a Glasgow Industrial Tribunal the driver, John Houston, had been employed at the company's Glasgow depot since 1974.
In the driver's job description, which Houston maintained he had never received, it was stated that summary dismissal was the penalty for being off route without approval.
On 14 April Houston had been on the Dundee run. While on the run he had bought two pieces of carpet and, having completed his deliveries and collections, he had gone off route to drop them off at his home while returning to the depot. When he had returned to his vehicle, it would not start. He had telephoned for assistance and on his return he had discovered that his vehicle had been broken into and goods had been stolen. Houston had been interviewed by the district manager who had told him that it was gross misconduct to be off route. Houston had replied that everyone did it but the management disagreed, arguing that other drivers asked for permission to go off route.
Houston had been sacked and then appealed through his shop steward who had supported his argument that going off route was common practice and nobody had been dismissed for it previously. The appeal was based on clemency, with regard to long service and the past attitude of management. The company felt unable to alter its decision.
The tribunal felt that the company had not acted reasonably saying Houston was a totally honest, loyal and willing employee. He had only stopped for a short time at the end of his run and the tribunal was satisfied that no reasonable employer would have dismissed Houston in the circumstances.