Scrooge employers alive and well

Cautionary Christmas Tale: A care worker, who was employed by a nursing home for several, had relatives from abroad who visited every Christmas. She, therefore, could not normally work on Christmas day. This had been the position each year since she took up her post four years previously. In early December she was told that she was rostered to work on Christmas Day.

She brought the fact that she would be unavailable to the attention of the Director of the Home who said she need not panic as she had over two weeks to arrange cover for the Christmas day shift. By the 21 December, however, the worker had failed to arrange for another employee to provide cover for Christmas day.

The Director gave her the choice of working the Christmas day shift or being dismissed. The following day, having been informed that the employee would not work Christmas day, the Director summarily dismissed the worker. The Director argued that it was up to staff to organise cover once the roster had been posted.

The Employment Appeals Tribunal ("EAT") found that responsibility for staff cover ultimately rests, irrespective of inter-staff arrangements, with the management of a business i.e. the employer and that the sanction of dismissal was, as a result, disproportionate. It awarded the Claimant 15,000 Euro under the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1997-2001.

Employers must balance the timing of all annual leave against the need for the employee to reconcile work and any family responsibilities; opportunities for rest and recreation available to the employee; and the need to consult with the employee at least one month before the leave is to be taken. For some industries where employees are expected to take mandatory holidays it is important that employers provide for this in the contract of employment.

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