Dublin Airport -- Sent Home Without Pay

Bighig250

Folks

I work for a large chain of stores in Dublin Airport and as of this morning we were sent home indefinitely as all our shops are closed due to the situation with the volcanic ash & the closure of virtually all Irish air space.

Anyway we were informed that any days we were not working due to these circumstances, we will not be paid. Is this possible as I'm available for work and cant understand why I am not being paid due to an "Act of God"!!

Would appreciate some help with this and guidance as to what options are open to me as I really cant afford to be going without a weeks wages.

Regards
Stephen

Rabies

I'm sure if a business is not sufficiently able to trade it can reduce the hours of staff or let them go.

Is this possible as I'm available for work and cant understand why I am not being paid due to an "Act of God"!!

Why should you be paid?

The business is closed. It too is available for work.

Have you employers said that work will resume as normal when flights are back on track?

munstergirl

Lets hope its only a week! :eek:

It might be worth your while to see if you can sign on. (ring citizen advice)

InReality

What does your contract say ? & How long have you been working there ?

Bighig250

Many thanks for your replies.

Been there for nearly six years and all I can find in my contract is that, "The company reserves the right to change your normal weekly working time in order to meet the needs of the business. All changes to working time will be in full consultation with you in good time prior to the change".

Have checked out Social Welfare and you are only entitled to some sort of payment if the lay off is for four or more days.

billybigunz

All changes to working time will be in full consultation with you in good time prior to the change".

So if they sent you home then you should still get paid.

Jarren

Bighig250 wrote: »

Folks

I work for a large chain of stores in Dublin Airport and as of this morning we were sent home indefinitely as all our shops are closed due to the situation with the volcanic ash & the closure of virtually all Irish air space.

Anyway we were informed that any days we were not working due to these circumstances, we will not be paid. Is this possible as I'm available for work and cant understand why I am not being paid due to an "Act of God"!!

Would appreciate some help with this and guidance as to what options are open to me as I really cant afford to be going without a weeks wages.

Regards
Stephen

Tricky one

Being asked to reduce your hours of work



Introduction
When your employer has a downturn in business or there is less work for you to do, your employer may ask you to take a pay cut or to work fewer hours. If your employer tells you that he or she is unable to continue employing you on your current terms and conditions of employment you need to consider your employer’s request very carefully. You should ask your employer for details of the reduced business activity, who else has been asked to reduce their hours of work or pay and what were the criteria for selection.

Reduction of working hours or pay
If your employer asks you to work fewer hours or take a pay cut, this is a change to your contract of employment. Any change to your contract of employment must be agreed by both you and your employer. When deciding whether or not to agree to working reduced hours or to a reduction in pay, there are a number of issues to be considered:

Reduced pay – what are the implications of this – for example, money and tax and paying the rent or mortgage
Scheduling of working hours – it may suit you and your family to reduce your hours, for example working a day less per week or 2 hours less each day.
Downturn in business – what choice do you have. If you don’t accept a reduction in your working hours or pay, your employer may decide to make you redundant.
You should ask your employer to give you written details of this proposed change to your contract of employment including a review date. You should respond to this in writing and if you are proposing to accept the change, you should stress that your acceptance is temporary. At the review date the change to your contract can be reconsidered and you could ask to return to the original terms and conditions of your contract.

If you do not agree to reduced working hours or pay

If your employer proposes to reduce your working hours or pay, this is a change to your terms and conditions of employment. You may agree to the reduction for reasons as described above. If you do not agree and say you wish to continue working as before your employer may decide to make you redundant. If you are dismissed in this way, you may qualify to bring a claim for unfair dismissal. Unless your employer can prove there was a genuine redundancy situation and that fair procedures were followed, this dismissal may be found to be unfair. If your employer insists on reducing your working hours or pay you may also consider that you have no choice but to resign and claim constructive dismissal because your employer has breached the terms of your contract. Before you do this, you should always seek detailed legal advice as proving constructive dismissal can often be difficult.

Lay off or short-time working
Alternatively your employer may lay you off or put you on short time for a number of weeks. A lay-off situation arises where your employer is temporarily unable to provide work for you. A short-time situation arises where, due to a reduction in the amount of work to be done, your pay or hours are less than half the normal weekly amount. In both cases these must be temporary situations and your employer must notify you before they start, ideally by using Part A of form RP9. Your employer can lay you off or put you on short time if it is in your contract of employment or it is custom and practice in your workplace. Otherwise your employer should not lay you off or put you on short time without your agreement. However if you do not agree you may be made redundant.

Claiming redundancy: If a lay-off or a short-time situation has continued for 4 weeks or more, or for 6 weeks in the last 13 weeks, you may claim a redundancy lump sum. If you claim redundancy in this way you are considered to have left your job voluntarily and therefore you will lose any right to notice or pay in lieu of notice from your employer. However if you have been laid off and you are subsequently made redundant by your employer you do not lose your notice entitlements.

Duration of lay off or short time: If you do not wish to claim redundancy but the lay-off or short-time situation continues, the question arises as to whether it is a temporary situation. If it becomes apparent that it is no longer temporary then the situation is now a redundancy rather than a lay-off or short-time working. It is the employer who initially decides whether or not there is a redundancy situation. If there is a dispute about this it should be referred to the Employment Appeals Tribunal to make a decision.

Social welfare payments

If your hours of work are reduced so that you are unemployed for at least 3 out of 6 consecutive days you may be entitled to a social welfare jobseeker’s payment.

To qualify for Jobseeker’s Benefit you must have enough PRSI contributions and must have suffered a substantial loss of employment in any period of 6 consecutive days. This means, you must have lost at least one day's employment and as a result of this loss be unemployed for at least 3 days out of 6 days. Your earnings must also have been reduced because of the loss of employment.

If your employer reduces your days at work to 3 days a week or less and you do not qualify for Jobseeker’s Benefit you may get Jobseeker's Allowance for the other days. You must meet the other conditions that apply to Jobseeker's Allowance, for example, you must satisfy a means test.

It may be possible to get Family Income Supplement if you have a family and your pay or hours are reduced.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/employment/employment-rights-and-conditions/contracts-of-employment/being-asked-to-reduce-your-hours-of-work

The bottom line is that i'ts up to your employer to decide whether to pay you or not .Thankfully it will be only temporary and you will still have job to get back to later

Ring them http://www.employmentrights.ie/en/aboutnera/contacts/
they will be able to help you

Chinafoot

Happened to a friend of mine today. He was told he was being "tremporarily laid off". However he got a call earlier to let him know he might be needed tomorrow afterall.

mrgardener

To be fair, your company is rightly screwed at the moment, so hopefully you will be back to work once the volcanic ash clears. I dont think your company is doing anything wrong. As you said, its an act of god, so there is no point trying to blame anyone. Best of luck.

Eoin

billybigunz wrote: »

So if they sent you home then you should still get paid.

Why would they bother closing if they still had to pay wages?