Pilot takes former employer to court
I don't know the details of this case, but I must say that I have always found aviation companies, especially small GA outfits, have always seemed to think they existed in some kind of time warp, immune from the harsh realities of modern employment law and litigation.
IF the pilot in question DID have problems, the employer could have followed a proper course of retraining, disciplinery procedures, official warnings and finally dismissal. Particularly in flying, you'd find the employee would usually leave before it got to dismissal, saving everybody the hassle.
Right or wrong, the days of "I'm the boss, you're fired" is over, and dealing with employees such that you cover yourself is just a (considerable!!) cost of doing business.
IF the pilot in question DID have problems, the employer could have followed a proper course of retraining, disciplinery procedures, official warnings and finally dismissal. Particularly in flying, you'd find the employee would usually leave before it got to dismissal, saving everybody the hassle.
Right or wrong, the days of "I'm the boss, you're fired" is over, and dealing with employees such that you cover yourself is just a (considerable!!) cost of doing business.
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'Evidence given by several of the former employee's workmates spoke of an inconsistent / arrogance attitude towards his flying'
hey sexy time, didnt it also come out at the trial that these statements that you mention were written by one of the company owners??? Think so!!!
hey sexy time, didnt it also come out at the trial that these statements that you mention were written by one of the company owners??? Think so!!!
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Didn't it also come out that his ability was very sub-standard?? Bringing about this whole issue in the first place??
But anyway, good luck to the guy...
And to his future employers.
But anyway, good luck to the guy...
And to his future employers.
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So now companies have to wait untill an pilot scrunches some of their equipment before they are allowed to discontinue the pilots employment.
Sounds real clever. Just another hole in the swiss cheese if you ask me.
Im sure that the employer didn't fire the pilot just because they didn't like the color of his socks so a degree of "Muppetness" must have been demonstated at some stage.
Sounds real clever. Just another hole in the swiss cheese if you ask me.
Im sure that the employer didn't fire the pilot just because they didn't like the color of his socks so a degree of "Muppetness" must have been demonstated at some stage.
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Employers should take action if an employee is a danger to themselves and their customers. To do this the employer should have clear guidelines on what qualifications a new employee should have prior to joining a company. ie focus on piloting skills not the other bollocks that seems to go on in interviews these days.
Once someone is employed the employer then is responsible to provide adequate training to give the employee a reasonable chance of success. If there is a problem then a clear outline of what is expected should be delivered to the employee.
The employee was given 3 training flights and a check ride to come up to speed. But after the first of these flights the employee was dismissed for serious mis-conduct. Had the employer allowed the employee to complete the 3 flights and the check and if the employee had failed that check then the dismissal would have been justified.
It is my understanding that serious mis-conduct dismissals are for single incidents such as punching out another member of staff, taking drugs or things like that.
The mistakes made on the training flight in question were not in the opinion of the authority serious mis-conduct and because they were mistakes that could be expected of any person under going training.
I hope every employer learns from this and changes their selection and training process to protect themselves from a similiar fate. At the same time it is also the responsibility the pilots to get themselves up to speed and to stay as current as possible because following this discission employers will be looking for higher standards from new staff. If they do not find them then wages will go down to reflect the extra training required to get them up to standard. Or worst still bonding will become common place in GA!!!!!!!!!
Once someone is employed the employer then is responsible to provide adequate training to give the employee a reasonable chance of success. If there is a problem then a clear outline of what is expected should be delivered to the employee.
The employee was given 3 training flights and a check ride to come up to speed. But after the first of these flights the employee was dismissed for serious mis-conduct. Had the employer allowed the employee to complete the 3 flights and the check and if the employee had failed that check then the dismissal would have been justified.
It is my understanding that serious mis-conduct dismissals are for single incidents such as punching out another member of staff, taking drugs or things like that.
The mistakes made on the training flight in question were not in the opinion of the authority serious mis-conduct and because they were mistakes that could be expected of any person under going training.
I hope every employer learns from this and changes their selection and training process to protect themselves from a similiar fate. At the same time it is also the responsibility the pilots to get themselves up to speed and to stay as current as possible because following this discission employers will be looking for higher standards from new staff. If they do not find them then wages will go down to reflect the extra training required to get them up to standard. Or worst still bonding will become common place in GA!!!!!!!!!
WHO CARES!!!
