A well-known Dublin hotel has been ordered to pay a former restaurant manager €9,000 over its failure to call him back to work after the business reopened following its closure at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that the Camden Court Hotel had been unfairly dismissed by its restaurant manager, Balazs Bihari and had been “disingenuous” in its treatment of him.
It upheld the claim by Mr Bihari that he had been constructively dismissed since December 4th, 2020.
The Camden Court Hotel, which is owned by the Bundoran-based McEniff family, claimed the restaurant manager was not dismissed and had refused to return to work in May 2021.
Mr Bihari, who had worked in the hotel for 13 years, told the WRC that he had no option but to consider himself dismissed after the hotel’s bar and restaurant reopened in December 2020, but he had not been brought back to work.
He gave evidence that he had been placed on leave since March 25th, 2020 and was in receipt of the weekly pandemic payment of €350.
Mr Bihari had contacted the hotel in May 2020 to find out how he could get security work on the premises as he became aware some staff members were carrying out such duties.
He and other staff were subsequently informed that the hotel would reopen on June 29th, 2020, but it would be necessary to reduce rosters and overall staff numbers.
The complainant outlined how he was in regular contact with the hotel about when the hotel’s restaurant would reopen.
He asked in July 2020 about his return to work when he became aware the coffee dock in the hotel’s lobby which fell under his department had reopened.
Mr Bihari claimed he was just told that both the hotel’s bar and restaurant remained closed. He said the bar and restaurant reopened in December 2020, but he had not been invited back to work.
Informal meeting
He was called to an informal meeting with hotel management in May 2021 after he had sent a solicitor’s letter to his employer.
The WRC heard notes of the meeting made by the hotel seemed to be an attempt to indicate that the restaurant manager had “issues” he wanted resolved before he returned to work.
Mr Bihari said he was concerned that the hotel was trying to effectively get rid of senior members of staff as other employees with long periods of service had also not been brought back to work.
His solicitor, Setanta Landers, claimed the Camden Court Hotel had provided no information on any objective criteria it might have used for which staff it selected to return to work.
Mr Landers said the hotel had not engaged with his client until it had received a solicitor’s letter in May 2021 and such engagement was “highly disingenuous".
The WRC heard that Mr Bihari, who was on a salary of €39,000 with the Camden Court Hotel, secured an alternative job as a security worker in January 2021 but with significantly less salary and job security, as well as a longer daily commute.
The hotel’s former operations manager gave evidence that 80 staff had been laid off at the start of the pandemic.
The witness accepted the hotel had promised in March 2020 to try to find alternative work for Mr Bihari but could find no suitable role for him.
He said the hotel wished to engage with the restaurant manager about his return to work in May 2021 but the complainant had then lodged a claim with the WRC.
The hotel’s HR manager gave evidence that Mr Bihari was still employed by the Camden Court.
WRC adjudication officer, Gaye Cunningham, said the hotel had provided no evidence about any fair method of selecting which workers would be called back to work.
Ms Cunningham said Mr Bihari had been left feeling isolated and rejected by the hotel and understandably had to seek work for economic reasons.
She claimed there was a “disingenuous element” to the hotel’s assertion that he remained an employee as he had never been given a restart date for his return to work.
Ms Cunningham said the hotel had not been very respectful in its treatment of someone with a long service record.
