The Workplace Relations Commission ordered Verizon Ireland Limited to pay €4,000 to European Works Council member Pavel Macho after finding he was penalised for his representative activities. The decision, dated 14 April 2023, also directed that records of a warning issued to him be expunged.
Macho, who worked for Verizon Czech s.r.o. and was based in Czechia, sought reimbursement for conference and hotel costs after attending a European Works Council conference in Hamburg. Verizon Ireland said it had already provided training remotely in Dublin and would not cover the additional costs. The WRC found the Dublin training met the company’s obligations and that the Hamburg training was not required.
The WRC found the expenses element of the complaint not well founded. Separately, it found that a warning and interaction with local HR amounted to detriment for Macho’s employee representative activities, contrary to section 17(1) of the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Act 1996. It ordered the €4,000 compensation for that penalisation, and directed Verizon and Macho’s direct employer to expunge any record of the warning.