Have you ever used the excuse that the train or bus didn’t arrive and that’s why you got to work? That’s what happened to this worker, who was fired after arriving late to work because of public transport. It happened in Florence (Italy) and we’re going to tell you how it all happened.
Thousands of workers depend on public transport every day to get to work, and this need is often delayed by breakdowns or incidents that have nothing to do with you. Or a simple change in schedule. Anything can alter your arrival time, and that’s what happened to this young worker at an ice cream shop in Florence.
A history of delays.
This worker used the regional train service every day to travel from her home to the city centre where the ice cream shop in question was located. The file presented at the trial states that this young woman was late several days a week (and that it was not an isolated incident).
The problems? The constant stops and delays in public transport were identified as the main cause of this worker’s lateness. Despite knowing that the problem was the frequent problems with the trains, the company decided to take drastic measures and fire her, claiming that she was not complying with the schedule and was affecting the performance of her duties within the company. But were we facing a clear example of unjustified dismissal?
What has the court said?
The court in charge of the case examined all the evidence (including reports of transport delays and communications between the employee and her company). And, ultimately, it concluded that the dismissal was unfair, arguing that the circumstances were beyond the employee’s control, so blaming the employee for the structural problems of public transport was unfair.
What is unfair dismissal?
A dismissal is considered “null” when a court finds that it was unfair or violated the fundamental rights of the worker. In this case, the court confirmed that the young woman was late due to circumstances beyond her control (since she did not live in the same place as her workplace, she had to take a train and then travel to the store where she worked.
Public transport in the middle class
This case has brought to light the reality that millions of people face every day around the world, the dependence on public transport to get to work. And with the cost of housing increasing all over the world, living outside of urban centres has become almost an obligation if you want to have your own (and decent) home… but this has an even sadder meaning, and that is that each person loses at least two hours of their day to get to work on time, leaving the schedules completely in the hands of transport companies (and they cannot do anything if they are delayed or suffer some infrastructure problem).
So, if you have ever been on the train thinking that you were late for work because it was going too slow, or because the train broke down, or if this happens to you every day (and you don’t have an earlier option to get to your workplace), keep in mind that you will first have to tell your boss and then, they cannot retaliate if it is exclusively about this problem.
This case is not only a victory for the worker but for the entire working class of the country, and also a denunciation to demonstrate the importance of investing in a public transport infrastructure that is efficient and does not jeopardize the work responsibilities of the workers who rely on them.