Criminal Acts and Inappropriate Behavior

If an employee commits a criminal offence towards the employer or his/her family member, the employer usually has grounds for terminating the employment relationship. The same applies, if the crime is aimed at the employee’s colleagues. If the offence has occurred outside work, the evaluation is not as straightforward, e.g. speeding tickets can only in rare cases be a valid termination ground.

Employee’s unsuitable behavior may be, for example:

• Criticizing employer in public

• Endangering the occupational safety out of negligence

• Lack of co-operational skills.

Inappropriate behavior may be directed at the employer, colleagues or customers. Inappropriate behavior may in itself be considered as grounds for termination of the employment relationship only in extreme cases. When assessing the employee's behavior special attention must be paid to the continuity of the inappropriate behavior. In legal practice e.g. sexual harassment has been considered to be a valid ground for the employer to cancel the employment relationship with immediate effect without notice. The inappropriate behavior should be evaluated based on as objective grounds as possible.

Criminal activity or inappropriate behavior by an employee may be grounds for termination of the employment relationship. Generally, the employee should be given a warning before the dismissal. The employer may cancel the agreement to terminate immediately, if the employee's offense is very serious, or it cannot be reasonably expected from the employer to continue the employment relationship due to the offence. In practice, the employer may have the grounds to cancel the agreement with immediate effect, at least, when an employee steals property of the employer, or if the employee seriously offends the honor of the employer, his/her family, deputy employer or a colleague or takes acts of violence towards them.