Sacked IT worker wins case

An IT worker who was sacked a week before his wedding and went from a sixfigure salary job to living in his car has been awarded about $36,000 for unjustified dismissal.

Ahmed Alkazaz worked as a senior database analyst at Enterprise IT, but was sacked without an investigation under the 90-day trial rule in December 2016.

He lost his $155,000 job just days before his wedding in Egypt which he had invested all his savings in.

Alkazaz began working at Enterprise IT in September 2016, and three months later received a letter telling him his employment would not be extended beyond his 90 day trial period.

His employment agreement contained a trial-period clause which purported to prevent him from making a claim for unjustified dismissal. But when challenged by Alkazaz’s lawyer, the company acknowledged the clause did not meet the requirements of the Employment Relations Act.

Enterprise IT said Alkazaz’s contract was terminated due to his performance, which it believed was at the level of a junior database administrator.

During his employment, Enterprise IT held several meetings with Alkazaz, which he thought were catch-up meetings but were actually about his performance.

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) said Enterprise IT failed to communicate the seriousness of its concerns with Alkazaz’s performance with him in the meetings.

The only time Enterprise IT communicated this to Alkazaz was in an email on October 31, 2016 but it did not follow up with a warning or written instructions to improve.

Alkazaz was awarded $22,999 in wages, $12,000 as compensation for humiliation and injury to feelings.

Enterprise IT was also fined $1500 for failing to pay the notice period on termination of Alkazaz’s contract until six months after his dismissal.