The Labour Court upheld an appeal by a Claimant who argued that Bus Eireann failed in their duty to notify him of a promotional opportunity while he was absent on sick leave.

The Claimant has been a bus driver and had been employed since 10th June 2002. He was on long term sick leave and was retired by the Company on ill health grounds on 7th December 2018. In October 2018, he became aware of four promotional posts for Automatic Vehicle Location Inspectors, advertised internally, which he sought to apply for. His application, albeit late, was considered and he was interviewed for the post, however, he was unsuccessful in his application.

Having considered the submissions of both parties, the Court note that the Claimant was not informed of the internal promotional vacancies while he was on sick leave and he was not formally informed in writing that he had been unsuccessful in the competition and given details of how to seek feedback. While the Court found that the employer was remiss in its procedures it could find no grounds to hold that the competition was conducted in an unfair or irrational manner and accordingly cannot find in favour of the Claimant’s claim.  The Claimant was awarded €1000 for the Employer’s failures in their internal promotion process.
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/cases/2020/march/lcr22196.html