Check time too short
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1 • The sacking of a driver by Severn Trent Group sub
sidiary Biffa Waste Services was held to be unfair by a Manchester Industrial Tribunal.
The company said the driver's vehicle was found to have two loose wheelnuts, and that he was expected to check all the wheelnuts on his vehicle every day.
The Tribunal said that John McGrath had been employed at the company's Wigan depot for five years and had a good record. They felt that the 10 minutes allowed for drivers to check over their vehicles each morning was totally unreasonable.
It said there was only one torque wrench available for the eight drivers at Wigan at the time, making it impossible for all the drivers to check the wheelnuts every day.
The Wigan depot manager accepted that wheelnuts could come loose when the vehicle was driven over rough ground, said the Tribunal.
McGrath had never been given a copy of the company's Disciplinary and Grievance Procedure. Ile had been dismissed for gross misconduct without ever having been advised precisely what the company meant by the term.
Though the company considered McGrath's conduct to be gross misconduct, the DOT vehicle examiner who had inspected the vehicle had not considered it serious enough to mention in his report.
The Tribunal considered that in the circumstances McGrath's conduct might have merited a warning, but in no way was it reasonable for the company to sack him.
They also concluded that the company's decision to withhold McGrath's holiday pay contravened the 1986 Wages Act.
The proceedings were adjourned for the parties to agree the amount of compensation to be paid to McGrath.