ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Decision Reference: ADJ-00001945

Complaint(s)/Dispute(s) for Resolution:

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 18 of the Parental Leave Act 1998	CA-00002661-001	17/02/2016

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 15/04/2016

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael Hayes

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41(4) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and the abovementioned Act, following the referral of the complaint(s)/dispute(s) to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint(s)/dispute(s) and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint(s)/dispute(s).

Complainant’s Submission and Presentation:

On 12 February, I was refused force majeure leave in respect of the illness of my partner on 8 February. I have been told that my employer will grant such leave only in case of attendance at a hospital emergency department, but no documentary support for this has been provided and in any case there is no warrant for this in the Act.

The complainant submits that her partner became ill at 5.45am on the 8^th of February 2016. She took the view that her presence was indispensable and informed her manager at 7.30am and again at 4pm. The manager refused to process the “Force Majeur Leave Notification Form” on the ground that the leave would only apply in circumstances where the close family member attended at an emergency department. There is no reference either in the Act or the contract of employment to any such requirement.

Respondent’s Submission and Presentation:

The respondent submits that in essence the complainant refused to discuss the detail of her partner’s illness with her manager and therefore the initial verbal application was refused. The complainant made written application on the 12^th of February, which was refused by the services manager on the basis of insufficient evidence. The respondent asserts that the statutory criteria “urgent, Immediate and indispensable” were not satisfied in all the circumstances.

Decision:

In the absence of a request for specific detail and particulars of evidential requirement from the respondent I find that the complaint is well founded.

I hereby require that the complainant is entitled to a day of force majeur leave in respect of the 8^th of February 2016.

Dated: 20^th October 2016