PTO palaver | Worker sacked after running into boss on 'unauthorised' holiday... then wins £10k at tribunal

A salesman who was sacked after running into one of his bosses, while on an 'unauthorised' holiday, has been awarded the equivalent of £10,000 compensation at a tribunal for wrongful dismissal.

Gary Maloney was unfairly dismissed from his job at Bill Griffin Motors in Dublin, according to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), after returning from a break in Portugal, with conflicting reports over whether his time off had been approved by his employer.

Mr Maloney only discovered he'd lost his job after returning to work to find a colleague sitting at his desk.

It appeared that his boss had no knowledge of his whereabouts, despite him having crossed paths with one of the company's directors during his holiday.