Last Bus ordered to pay bus driver €3,258.09 for leave and public holiday entitlements

The Workplace Relations Commission directed Last Bus Limited to pay bus driver Vytautas Bitinas €3,258.09 for 16.5 days of untaken annual leave and public holidays. In a decision dated February 10, 2023, the WRC also found that his complaints about annual leave pay during lay-off and redundancy pay were not well founded. Bitinas worked at Quick Park at Dublin Airport before being laid off in October 2020. After Quick Park ceased trading, Last Bus offered him driving work on the Dublin Coach service. He argued that the role involved a different employer and substantially changed terms, while Last Bus said it was suitable alternative work with the same employer. The adjudicator found Bitinas would remain with Last Bus and based at Dublin Airport, and that the proposed changes were not significant. She concluded he unreasonably refused suitable alternative work, so he was not entitled to redundancy pay. His claim for annual leave pay during lay-off was not well founded, but public holiday entitlement accrued during the first 13 weeks of lay-off.