The Workplace Relations Commission awarded a childcare worker €13,716 for constructive dismissal and €1,500 for breaches of rest-break rules. The decision, dated 8 May 2017, found that a dispute over her working hours made it reasonable for her to resign.
The worker said she resigned after a heated exchange about returning to full-time hours. The WRC found the crèche owner questioned her future employment if she did not return to those hours. It also found that the crèche’s response to her resignation offered no viable way back to work or a way to resolve the dispute. The crèche denied the claims and said it needed staff to cover its roster.
The dismissal redress was equivalent to 12 months’ salary, based on monthly gross wages of €1,143. The WRC noted that the worker sought teaching work but was not active in seeking childcare work as an interim measure. It also found that on 57 six-hour shifts she received a 15-minute break instead of the required 30 minutes, awarding €1,500 for the breach, not for unpaid wages. Her complaints of race and family-status discrimination, harassment and victimisation were not well founded. Her employment-terms complaint also failed because she received a contract within two months of starting work.