asked the Minister for Labour if in the case of an unfair dismissal he has satisfied himself that a situation can arise whereby a dismissal is held to be unfair by the Employment Appeals Tribunal but re-instatement or compensation is not awarded and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Unfair Dismissals.
403.
The Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977, provides that the forms of redress for unfair dismissal shall be re-instatement or re-engagement or monetary compensation.
When assessing whether monetary compensation should be awarded in an unfair dismissals case and the amount of such compensation, the Employment Appeals Tribunal takes into account the loss sustained by the dismissed employee and the extent, if any, to which he contributed to the loss or failed to mitigate it. In individual decisions the tribunal has decided that dismissal had been unfair but that no monetary award should be made because the employee had immediately obtained alternative employment and sustained no financial loss. The tribunal has also made no monetary award where it held that an employee has been entirely to blame for dismissal, although he had been summarily dismissed, without getting an opportunity to defend himself and the dismissal was held to be technically unfair.
The Act does not provide for the payment of a basic award in a case where a dismissal is adjudged to be unfair. The desirability of a basic award was raised during the passage of this legislation through the Oireachtas. It was considered then that the assessment of compensation should be left to the discretion of the adjudicating body. The matter is one which will be looked at again in connection with any future review of the operation of the Act.