The Complainant, a lady with childcare commitments, commenced employment with the Respondent in November 2018. It was her understanding that she would be undertaking a Part Time “Job Sharing” role. Shortly afterwards, the Complainant was asked by one of the Co-Owners of the Respondent business to change her hours to full time on Tuesday and Friday. The Co-Owner was her “Job Share” partner. The Complainant could not facilitate this but offered to work full time on Tuesdays if her weekend commitments were reduced. The Respondent then offered the Complainant a transfer to the Dublin Airport Branch of the Pharmacy chain. However, these hours were impossible for the Complainant to arrange childcare and so she declined the offer. Shortly thereafter, the Complainant was informed by the Respondent that it was necessary to hire a full time Pharmacist and terminated her employment with the company.
The Complainant felt that she had been grossly discriminated against by virtue of her Gender and Family status. The Respondent argued that Job Sharing involving daily handovers between Pharmacists does not work and that the decision to hire a full-time Pharmacist was in the best interests of Patient care and the safe running of a busy Pharmacy. The Respondent stated that there was no intent to discriminate in any way.
The Adjudication Officer highlighted that there had been no real evidence of any significant efforts to see how the daily part-time Pharmacist position could possibly have been made to work other than by a pattern of flexible but full-time days. The Adjudication Officer found that the Complainant was discriminated against on grounds of her gender status, her family status, and by a discriminatory dismissal. Accordingly, the Respondent was ordered to pay an award of €25,000 in compensation for the discriminatory dismissal which equated to 26 week’s salary. An additional award of €5,000 was also awarded to the Complainant for the effects and distress of the dismissal.
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/cases/2020/january/adj-00022879.html
Continue reading
We help hundreds of people like you understand how the latest changes in employment law impact your business.
Please log in to view the full article.
What you'll get:
- Help understand the ramifications of each important case from NI, GB and Europe
- Ensure your organisation's policies and procedures are fully compliant with NI law
- 24/7 access to all the content in the Legal Island Vault for research case law and HR issues
- Receive free preliminary advice on workplace issues from the employment team
Already a subscriber? Log in now or start a free trial