Can you explain the importance of the recent Heffernan -v- Dunnes Stores case in relation to issuing staff handbooks or sending reminders.

In this case, (Heffernan -v- Dunnes Stores, (Employment Appeals Tribunal 2010)) an employee had credited her value club card with points, using the points of customers who did not have club cards, and in some cases, even offered them to the employee in question. This was in breach of Company procedures, but the employee claimed that other employees did it, and that she was unaware that she was doing anything wrong.

Following an internal investigation, she was dismissed for gross misconduct. The employer pointed to the Company handbook as being the source of rules and practice appropriate to the workplace. However, the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) found that the proposition that all