Pravda overturned the dismissal of a woman from Vigo for visiting shopping centers during the working day

He Supreme Court of Justice of Galicia (TSXG) he considered cancel the employee’s dismissal who visited shopping centers during the working day, since although he the facts are proven and prescribedand the decision was based on bad family relations

In a judgment from last May, which Efe had access to, the social court saw the hardware company’s appeal against the judgment of social court number 1 in Vigo, which declared the employee’s dismissal null and void.

Antonieta worked as an assistant in her father’s hardware store, Benigno, from January 2022 to June 2014, and between June of that year and December 2015 for her mother Bárbara.

agreed reduced working hours

In September 2014, he agreed with the company, due to the 35% disability of one of his children, 50% reduction in working hourswith working hours from 9:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

According to the report of a private detective hired by the owner of the hardware store, the worker claimed on different occasions that she was going to the doctor with her son, while in fact she visited different shopping centers, all during the workday.

Antonieta, who, along with her mother and two sisters, is a partner in the company and owns 16,666% of the share capital, was subject to various sanctions before her dismissal for unjustified breaks during the working day, laziness at work and lack of punctuality, along with presenting false invoices for visits to the doctor.

The Labor Court pointed out that “between the involved parties there are bad family and personal relationships that should not lead to the annulment of the dismissal for this reason, since it is based on real events as a result of the submitted report of the private detective”.

However, he understood that the dismissal must be considered null and void.

Antonieta was accused of four violations, of which “the first three are prescribed, and the third is of little importance to justify dismissal; and if the dismissal is not declared valid, it must be declared null and void because the worker enjoys 50% reduced working hours due to legal custody to take care of the child,” the text continues.

In addition, since 2014, she has been enjoying 99% reduced working hours due to her son’s serious illness.

In total, Antonieta committed four serious violations, but the hardware store did not sanction her until the last one, so the Supreme Court rules out that they can be grouped together and be a reason for dismissal, when the first three have already been prescribed.

Deducting 23 minutes is not a reason for dismissal

The Supreme Court shares the reasoning of the social court that understood this “Taking 23 minutes to buy something at the mall doesn’t seem like a reason to get firedespecially when it is not possible to pretend that in an hour’s journey the time has been adjusted to the extent that you risk being late for a medical examination».

For all these reasons, the Supreme Court cannot conclude that “this conduct is sufficiently serious and punishable to warrant dismissal.”