Sunday 10 May 2009

Bhutan : Employee wins case vs. company

“This has resulted in an outright abridgement of the individual right to be assessed...”

8 May, 2009 - A Bhutan Power Corporation employee, who was terminated by his management last year on the grounds of “unsatisfactory” performance, has won the case he filed against the company.

The court yesterday ordered the BPC management to compensate the employee by paying him his salary from the time of termination till the court’s judgment, from June 2008 to May 2009.

The employee, working as a deputy manager in the human resource and administration department (HRAD), was rated ‘unsatisfactory’, after completion of his probation, by the officiating general manager.

The employee alleged that the rating was unjust and aimed to ruin his career, despite his outmost sincerity, punctuality and dedication.

He said that, during his tenure under the former general manager, Namgye Penjore, the present chairperson of the National Council, he was rated as a sincere, honest, responsible and hardworking officer, who carried out his responsibilities satisfactorily.

But after the general manager resigned to join politics, the officiating general manager, with whom the employee had less contact, without any discussion rated him unsatisfactory, according to his statement to the court.

The employee told court that the officiating general manager had a personal grudge against him, adding that women employees were given outstanding assessments even though they didn’t perform.

However, since the employee couldn’t prove his allegations, the court overruled them. The court decided that the management had failed blatantly to abide by its own PMS rules (performance management system). “This has resulted in an outright abridgement of the individual right to be assessed as per the given procedure,” stated the judgment.

The company’s performance management system states, “The supervisor must discuss the rating personally with the employee, going over each competency individually. Any documentation, if used in support of the rating, must be furnished to the employee during the discussion.”

By Passang Norbu
passa@kuensel.com.bt

http://www.kuenselonline.com/

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