WRC rejects Dunnes Stores worker’s carer’s leave complaint

The Workplace Relations Commission did not uphold Peter Toland’s complaint that Dunnes Stores penalised him by removing his rostered day off after he returned from carer’s leave. The WRC decision was dated 14 December 2023. Toland said a weekly day off had been agreed in 2018 and was discontinued when he returned to work in October 2021. Dunnes Stores disputed that he had an entitlement to a fixed day off, saying rosters changed according to business needs. The adjudicator found that an informal arrangement had provided Toland with a rostered day off for about two years to address stocktaking problems. But it was not an implied term of his contract, and the adjudicator found that ending it was unrelated to his use of carer’s leave. Although the change was detrimental to Toland, it did not amount to penalisation under the Carer’s Leave Act.