Delaying termination of the contract and keeping ‘dirt’ on an employee for a longer period of time to use it at a time favourable for an employer could cause additional stress to the employee and lead to a detrioration of health which could be a violation of personal interest. The reason for termination could become nonexistent as in a case of a reason justifying disciplinary dismissal.

The case concerned an employee of a waste management facility. In May 2020, the employee was alleged to have breached duties by ordering without the agreement of management additional rounds to collect waste. The employer, after an internal investigation, terminated the employee's contract in September 2021, i.e. 16 months later.

An assessment of how long after an employer becomes aware of misconduct will the misconduct remain a valid reason for termination by serving notice must take into account the totality of circumstances. It is not possible to indicate a fixed time limit in this respect. The Supreme Court has, however, suggested that because a disciplinary penalty -  which is less severe than termination by serving notice - is removed from a file at the end of one year of impeccable work, the time limit for using a specific reason for termination should be shorter. At the same time, because an employer has three months from a misconduct to apply a disciplinary penalty, the more severe nature of the sanction means that an employer should have more time to investigate the legitimacy of termination.