Unqualified driver wins a week's wages at Tribunal
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A DRIVER WHO was sacked because he was not legally qualified to drive a 7.5-tonne truck has won a week's wages for breach of contract but lost his case for unfair dismissal. A Glasgow Employment Tribunal ruled that the dismissal of driver Leslie Carrick by Glasgow-based Larnville, after it discovered he was not qualified to drive the class of vehicle he was driving, was not unfair. However, the Tribunal ordered the company to pay him £212 compensation for breach of contract
because it gave him only one week's notice instead of his entitlement of two.
Leslie Carrick told theTribunal that when he was hired by the company in 2001 he produced a copy of his driving licence which showed that he had passed his driving test 14 months previously.
Carrick was given a small delivery van to drive but soon switched to a 7.5-tonner. If he had been driving prior to 1997, when the regulations changed, he would have been covered by his driving licence. However, having passed his test since that date his existing licence did not qualify him to drive such a vehicle; the Tribunal accepted that neither Carrick nor the company appreciated this.
It was clear that Carrick was not qualified to do the job for which he was employed. In those circumstances dismissal was appropriate with notice.
Carrick started his employment in October 2001 and was dismissed in June 2003, said the Tribunal. In those circumstances, it seemed that he was entitled to two weeks' notice and not the one he was given, so his claim for breach of contract was well founded to the extent of one week's wages.
IT NEED NEVER HAVE HAPPENED
The situation would not have arisen had the company stayed abreast of changes in the law. This case shows why it is essential for drivers and employers to make sure they are properly informed on legal matters.