The Workplace Relations Commission recommended that a childcare employer pay an anonymised worker €2,000 after finding serious failures in the procedures used to end her probationary employment. The recommendation, dated 18 July 2024, also called for a formal probation policy.
The worker said she had received positive feedback, no warnings and different explanations for her dismissal. The employer said it had discussed performance concerns, including communication with younger children, and that the dismissal decision was upheld on appeal.
The officer concluded there had been no structured probation reviews or clear improvement plan, and that the dismissal lacked fair procedures and natural justice. This was an industrial-relations recommendation, not a statutory unfair-dismissal ruling. A separate dispute reference was treated as a duplicate; on the bullying and harassment dispute, the officer made no recommendation in the worker’s favour.