Failure to make adjustments resulted in a pay out of €20,000 in Ireland workplace relations commission case
A worker in Ireland with a migraine condition has been awarded €20,000 (£17,100) after an employment tribunal found that her employer discriminated against her by refusing a four-day working week request.
The discrimination followed a diagnosis of vestibular migraine, which caused headaches, dizziness, nausea and fatigue. Despite medical advice from both her GP and an occupational health assessment that reducing her 35-hour, five-day working week to 28 hours over four days would help manage her symptoms, the employer refused the request.
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in Ireland found that the employer had failed to properly assess whether the adjustment could be accommodated before refusing it, instead relying on a blanket contractual policy.
The employer had not shown that the proposed arrangement would have imposed “a disproportionate burden” and ordered it to pay the employee for the effects of the discrimination, as well as to review both its policies around reasonable accommodation requests and her working arrangements.
This is another example of an employer failing to follow medical advice to make reasonable adjustments. For further information on this, please contact 121 HR Solutions at enquiries@121hrsolutions.co.uk.
0800 9995 121 
enquiries@121hrsolutions.co.uk
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