“High Noon” at the supermarket square between boss and employee: Because Mr S. left 2 minutes too early, his boss fired him while he was still shopping.
For almost four months, Mr. S. worked as a sales engineer for a high-tech company in the Wiener Neustadt district. Since he was also repeatedly deployed for technical support, he hardly had any time left for his actual task, customer care.
After intervening with the managing director, he pointed out that the collective agreement was overpaid by 250 euros a month. That’s why the technician can also work overtime and, if that doesn’t work out, look following his customers during his free time. Ten hours of overtime a month are “normal” anyway.
Dismissal in the supermarket
By then, however, the employee had already worked more than 130 hours of overtime. When he clocked out at half past four on the same day, at the end of normal working hours in the company, the employee then went shopping in the nearest supermarket.
At the parking lot, the technician met his boss, who informed him on the spot of the dismissal on the grounds that the clock-out had already taken place at 4:28 p.m., ie 2 minutes too early. And that, although overtime would have been ordered.
On top of that, the company manager demanded the immediate return of the car key for the company car. The manager ignored the hint that there were still personal belongings in the vehicle.
No car, no money
Without a car and without a cent to buy at least a bus ticket, the completely baffled employee had to wait an hour and a half for his girlfriend to be picked up by her.
Causa ended up in court
Mr S. immediately contacted the Chamber of Labor in Wiener Neustadt. However, an intervention with the employer due to unjustified dismissal was unsuccessful. The company even raised an objection to the intervention letter.
So the case ended up before the labor and social court, for which the AK Lower Austria granted the man free legal protection to take action once morest the dismissal. “An overpayment of the collective agreement is not a carte blanche to be able to freely dispose of employees. With the salary, just six overtime hours per month were compensated,” says AK Lower Austria President and ÖGB Lower Austria Chairman Markus Wieser.
8,370 euros for technicians
Only before the oral hearing did the managing director realize that he was on a losing battle with his view and undertook to pay the outstanding overtime and the termination compensation of 8,370 euros that had been claimed as a result of the unjustified dismissal.