Profiles Creative wins tribunal case

18-Mar-2009 | By Ben Jones

An employment tribunal has thrown out a breach of contract case involving a recruitment consultant who was sacked after spending 11 months on probation.

Craig Smith took a job with recruiter Profiles Creative in November 2007 but was dismissed in October 2008 after senior management expressed concerns about his ability to manage a team. He then received one week’s pay in lieu of notice, after rejecting a pay cut of £15,000 to continue as a consultant.

Smith, representing himself, told the tribunal that he thought he was due three months’ pay upon being sacked, as he claimed he had completed his six-month probationary period.

However, after six months the company decided in June 2008 to extend his probationary period for a further three months, having told him the previous month that there were issues with his performance.

When revenues did not improve in line with targets after three months, the company agreed to give him a further month to reverse the trend. After he was unable to do so, he was dismissed.

Smith said of the company’s offer: “I said to Jacqueline [Parker, sales manager]: ‘They can’t do this, it’s constructive dismissal’.”

Smith went on to say that he had not received a letterconfirming he had passed his probation, so assumed he had. He added: “It was common knowledge that probation letters were not given out and the natural assumption was that I’d passed my probation.”

In the company’s defence, Ayo Akintola told the court: “Profiles Creative decided to use the right to extend Craig Smith’s probationary period as defined in his contract.”

Summing up, Judge Auerbach, presiding, told the court on 6 March that although the clause relating to his probation “was not happily drafted” as it did not require Profiles Creative to take proactive steps to tell employees their probations were complete, he agreed that it was defined clearly enough to allow the agency to take the action it did.