Worker awarded €18,000 in damages for unfair dismissal

An industrial tribunal awarded an employee €18,000 for unfair dismissal and rebuked employers who engage workers on full-time and part-time basis within companies in the same group to avoid paying for extra work at overtime rates.

The General Workers’ Union, which assisted the employee, said Joan Montanaro had had a full-time job as housekeeper at Baystreet Hotel Complex. After working hours, she did the same work as a part-timer with Baystreet Holdings Ltd. She was dismissed in 2006 after being accused of failing her duties and refusing to work after hours. Tribunal chairman Harold Walls said evidence showed that Ms Montanaro had been employed by the two companies so that, when asked to work after hours, she would be paid as a part-timer instead of at overtime rates.

The tribunal said that, through its award, it wanted to express its disapproval of such systems. Should more employers adopt such methods, workers would suffer an injustice.

Furthermore, the employee had been required to work extra for Baystreet Holdings and should not, therefore, have been disciplined by Baystreet Hotel.

Baystreet Hotel was ordered to pay €15,000 and Baystreet Holdings had to fork out €3,000.