The Labour Court varied a Rights Commissioner recommendation in Tesco Ireland Limited’s appeal over a worker’s career break, deciding that his consolidated night rate should be restored from 1 November 2009, not from his return to work in 2008. The decision was signed on 23 January 2012.
The worker, represented by Mandate, said he had taken an agreed one-year career break in November 2007 and returned early in 2008. Tesco said he had resigned and later returned under a new contract. The Court found it was more likely that the Store Manager had granted the career break, and that the worker’s service should be treated as continuous.
There were no night-shift vacancies when he returned, and Tesco was not required to create one. The Court found Tesco had technically breached the agreement by failing to discuss available work with him on his scheduled return. It rejected the union’s request to restore his night rate from 2008, setting the restoration date at 1 November 2009 instead.