Reference no: EM132311669 , Length: word count:2500
Assignment -
David Jones is 45 years old and has worked for a large Pharmaceutical company called MFS (Medicines for Sale) based in Dublin 2 as a Sales and Marketing Director for the last 20 years. David signed a contract of employment when he first joined the firm but he does not have a copy of the contract anymore. Since joining the firm David has been promoted on several occasions but was never issued with a new contract when he was promoted. Initially he when he commenced working for the firm he was a Sales and Marketing Assistant and now he is the head of the Sales and Marketing division. David took over this role from his predecessor whose employment had been terminated by the Company upon the giving of 6 months notice by the employer. In this role he has a team of 4 Sales and Marketing Managers and 2 administration staff reporting into him. In recent times David exercised his authority in line with terms and conditions of employment to sanction the payment of sick leave at full pay for eight (8) weeks for 2 of the Sales and Marketing Managers who report into him, one of whom was female and the other was transgender, male to female.
He recently spoke with the Human Resources Manager, Mrs Pepperpot, and asked if he could have a copy of his contract of employment. He also asked if he could have a copy of the employee handbook. Ms Pepperpot advised David that all the information he needed was available on the firm's intranet site. David also applied for Paternity Leave for the two weeks' after his wife gave birth to their third child on the 15th February 2019. His application was turned down by Mrs Pepperpot.
In recent times David has been suffering from stress, anxiety and chest pains and attended his General Practitioner and then Beaumont Hospital for a health screening on the 4th February 2019. During the screening process David was diagnosed as having a narrowed artery. On 11th February 2019 David attended hospital to undergo a medical procedure to insert a stent into his artery. David remained on a period of sick leave until he returned to work on the 8th April 2019.
When he returned to work on the 8th April 2019 Mrs Pepperpot and one of the Directors, Mr Hartless, met with David and outlined their concerns about his health and the fact that he had been off work. David's Doctor had signed him back to work subject to him returning to light duties and the said Medical Report outlined that the stress and anxiety was caused by work related pressures, difficult working relationships and his lack of time off work. He was informed that he would not be paid for the time he had been off sick. David was advised that if he wished to be paid he could use his carried over annual leave amounting to 15 days holidays from the 2018 leave year and the accrued annual leave for the current annual leave year which is 5 days annual leave. David was told that if he did not use his carried over annual leave from the 2018 leave year to cover his sick leave he would be forfeiting it anyway as annual leave could not be carried over into the next holiday year. David was unable to take the 15 days holidays from the 2018 leave year because the Chief Executive Mr Doolittle did not sanction him taking the leave.
David was also advised that the bonus of €80,000 he was due to be paid on the 31st March 2019 would not be paid because of the period of sick leave which he had taken in 2019. The bonus was calculated as 50% of his salary. To obtain the bonus David had to ensure that his sales and marketing team achieved their sales target of €10 million of new business during the period 1st February 2018 and 31st January 2019. That sales target was achieved by 30th November 2018. David had approved the bonuses for his sales and marketing team and those bonuses had been paid on 31st March 2019.
On 8th April 2019 David visited his GP at 1.00p.m. because he felt unwell, stressed and anxious after the meeting with Mrs Pepperpot and Mr Hartless. The GP signed David off sick for a period of one week because he was suffering from stress and anxiety. David submitted a sick certificate to the firm on at 2.00p.m. on the 8th April 2019. At 3p.m. on the 8th April 2019 David received a telephone call from Mrs Pepperpot asking him to attend a meeting that evening at 4.00pm. David attended the meeting and Mrs Pepperpot and Mr Hartless was also present. During the meeting David was advised that the firm had serious concerns about his health and the impact that it was having on the business. Mr Hartless informed David that his employment with the firm was to terminate with 4 weeks' notice with immediate effect, that the bonus of €80,000 would not be paid and that he would be forfeiting his accrued annual leave. Mrs Pepperpot advised David that he had restrictive covenants in his contract of employment and that he could not work for a competitor for twelve months within a 40 mile radius of Dublin 2. The clients of the firm were all based within a 35 mile radius of their offices in Dublin 2.
Furthermore David was told that he could not set up any business in his own account in line with the restrictive covenants.
David is very concerned about the circumstances that he finds himself in and is unsure of his rights. David attended a meeting with you as his Solicitor on the evening of the 12th April 2019 because of the concerns he has about the events that have unfolded in his place of work. David needs to understand his employment rights. Please set out a memorandum addressing the issues that David has raised and advise him about his employment rights.
Please note that all components of the assignment should be supported by appropriate case law and where needs be reference should be made to any applicable legislation which includes Acts, SI's (Statutory Instruments) and Codes of Practice.
The total maximum word count of 2500 words excludes appendix and bibliography. All work is to be clearly referenced (Harvard Style) in the bibliography and appendix section of the assignment.