News from the Courts – Constructive dismissal rejected

A Call Centre ex-employee who took a constructive dismissal case against his employer about his working conditions has failed in his case, as his claims were insufficiently specific. The individual had stated that he had taken 3 days leave because of a stress-related illness in 2010. Shortly after this, he complained to his team leader about the pressure he was feeling at work, and provided a sick certificate stating stress.

When he returned, he gave his team leader a 6 page letter saying that he wanted to invoke the grievance procedure and listed nearly 30 grievances including excessive targets, having to deal with angry customers on the phone, insufficient break times, computers crashing etc. He also complained of bad management, and being micr0-managed. The HR Partner spent over 27 hours working on the complaints, and also made the point that the company provides a free GP service twice a week, while an occupational health nurse is available four times a week.

The employee did not appeal the outcome of the grievance procedure, or ask for more time to consider the report from the HR Partner, and resigned by sending an email.

Dillon v Hertz Europe Services Centre Ltd.