A tribunal has urged a company to pay €50,000 in compensation to a woman who moved to Ireland to take up a senior job at the firm, only to be sacked six months later after she complained about the behaviour of her manager.The employee told the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) that she thought her concerns would be addressed when she was asked to put them in writing and attend a meeting.Instead, the manager she complained about dialled in with human resources, and she was told her job was being immediately terminated, the worker told the commission.There had been “no prior warning” that the company had taken any issue with her conduct or performance, she said.An adjudicator called it “a serious departure from the standards expected of an employer” in an anonymised decision document making the non-binding recommendation under the Industrial Relations Act 1969 for the payment of the compensation.The company had written to the tribunal through its solicitors objecting to a hearing into the industrial dispute proceeding, and did not attend, the WRC noted.The worker told adjudicator Christina Ryan she had “relocated internationally” to take up the offer of a “senior role” at the unidentified Irish company, and started work there on 6 February 2023.There was no formal probation review, performance meetings, or any structured feedback – as the person who was meant to take charge of that process was “unavailable” due to personal circumstances.She said she believed her performance had been strong and that she was exceeding expectations and that bosses had acknowledged the quality of her work in writing.On 23 August, the employee said she went to the manager who hired her for the job and, after raising concerns about the conduct of her line manager, was asked to give examples in writing.Two days later she was called to a meeting, attending in the belief that what she had raised would be “evaluated” and that her concerns would be discussed and resolved.Both the manager she had complained to and the manager she complained about joined the videoconference – along with a representative from the company’s human resources department.She said she was then told her job was being “terminated with immediate effect”.The employee said she had no advance notice that this was the purpose of the meeting and had “no prior warning” that either her performance on the job or her conduct were “unsatisfactory”.The worker said she had trouble finding new work despite “sustained efforts” and believed that her short tenure with the company had damaged her employability.The adjudicator, Ryan, noted that the claimant had no recourse to the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 when she was let go because she did not have a full year’s service – but said this did not “negate” her right to fair procedures.Ryan said the worker was “clear and consistent” and she accepted her “uncontested” account of the dismissal.“The employer failed entirely to adhere to the requirements of fair procedures. There was a complete absence of any process,” Ryan wrote.“The manner in which the dismissal was effected, in circumstances where the worker reasonably believed she was attending a meeting to discuss concerns she had raised, compounded that failure,” Ryan wrote.“I am satisfied that the manner of her dismissal has had a significant adverse impact on her professional standing and employability,” the adjudicator added.She recommended the payment of €50,000 in compensation for the dismissal.This figure, Ryan wrote, reflected the employer’s conduct, the “abrupt and unanticipated” dismissal, the employee’s seniority, and the fact that the worker had been required to relocate internationally to take up the job.