The WRC recommended reducing a general operator’s final written warning to a six-month written warning, finding the original sanction disproportionate. Adjudication Officer Patsy Doyle dated the recommendation 24 January 2018. The operator had taken a night off after his annual leave request was refused. The employer said the absence was unauthorised and warranted discipline. The WRC found that a sanction was justified, but the final written warning was too harsh given the one-off absence and the parties’ previously positive working relationship. It also recommended that the parties rebuild trust and plan annual leave for 2018.