A former employee of the Employment and Training Corporation has been condemned by a court to pay the corporation €9,722 for having abandoned his place of work before the expiry of his work contract.

The Magistrates' Court was told that Joseph Genovese , a clerk, had gone in to work on January 11, 2007, but then left and did not return.

On January 15, the corporation wrote to him, warning that unless he returned by January 19, he would be considered to have abandoned his job.

On January 19 the corporation again wrote to him, saying that once he had not resumed his duties, he was considered to have abandoned his employment and his job was therefore terminated.

The ETC then demanded payment for the remaining days of his contract.

Mr Genovese argued that he had been forced out of his job (constructive dismissal).

The court, however, found that instead of addressing grievances he said he had at his place of work, the accused had admitted that when he did not like the new work given to him, he left. This constituted an admission of the ETC's claims.

It therefore ordered Mr Genovese to pay the corporation €9,722, being the amount due for the number of work days outstanding in his contract.