The Labour Court upheld complaints by Szymon Cimerowski about fixed-term contract renewals, training and his dismissal, and ordered Bord Gais Eireann to pay him €15,000. The determination was signed on 16 April 2012 after his appeal under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003.
Cimerowski worked as a computer aided drafting and geographic information systems technician on three successive fixed-term contracts from April 2007 to December 2009. He said he had been denied relevant training and that his dismissal was intended to prevent him gaining a contract of indefinite duration. Bord Gais said his work ended with a project, vacancies were advertised and training was available.
The Court found the company had not provided written reasons for renewing his contracts in 2008 and 2009, had not facilitated appropriate training, and had dismissed him partly to avoid him gaining indefinite-duration status. It ordered the €15,000 payment for those breaches and confirmed the Rights Commissioner’s decision. His complaints about less favourable conditions, the four-year contract limit, access to permanent vacancies and penalisation for protected acts were not upheld.