This case was brought before the Labour Court as a result of the Respondent’s decision to utilise their staff’s banked hours on the 1st and 2nd of March 2018 when a Red Alert weather warning had been issued by Met Eireann.

The Complainant argued that this decision was not agreed upon by staff. When a similar situation had arose in October 2017 (Storm Ophelia), the Respondent deducted hours from Union member’s Rostered Bank Hours. However, following objections, the Employer restored the hours. The Union stated that the same should apply in this instance.

The Respondent’s most significant argument was that the previous occasion had been a once off and that as the country was experiencing more severe weather warnings it was something that they wanted to address. Therefore, the Employer put together a policy document on dealing with severe weather conditions and this was circulated among employees. This set out the Employer’s policy in respect of absences from work due to severe weather events and was implemented on the 1st and 2nd of March 2018. When the Union raised its concerns with management in relation to using the Regular Hours Bank system, the Employer offered alternatives such as using annual leave and unpaid leave but no one decided to make use of these options.

After carefully considering submissions from both parties the court held that the Employers actions were reasonable and therefore the Complainant’s claim failed.
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/cases/2019/may/lcr21986.html