Labour Court rejects union appeal over Liebig written warning

The Labour Court rejected Services Industrial Professional Technical Union’s appeal and upheld the Rights Commissioner’s recommendation on a written warning issued by Liebig International Limited. The decision was dated 15 December 1995. The warning followed a dispute over a shop steward leaving work during a disagreement about public holiday pay. The union argued she should have been allowed to leave at her stated time and said the company later paid other workers double time. Liebig said she should have continued working under protest and considered her departure insubordination. The Rights Commissioner had recommended that the incident remain on her personnel file for six months. The Labour Court found that the company’s actions were not unreasonable and rejected the union’s appeal.