An employer failed to pay sick pay for a training day – the court disagreed
TEXT TIIA KYYNÄRÄINEN
ILLUSTRATIONS ESKO KUMPUNEN
A company failed to pay an employee sick pay for a training day. The Labour Court ruled that the procedure was in violation of the collective bargaining agreement.
An employee was unable to attend a training day organised by their employer due to having fallen ill. The employee submitted a doctor’s certificate to their employer regarding their absence due to illness on the day of the training event.
The dispute centered on whether the employer was required to pay the employee sick pay for the day of absence. There was also dispute over whether the training was in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement and whether sick pay should be based on pay from regular working hours or on the company’s local agreement regarding compensation for participation in training.
In addition, the Labour Court had to determine whether it had jurisdiction to hear a claim for payment based on a local agreement.
THE LABOUR COURT FOUND THAT THE COMPANY HAD ACTED WRONGLY
The Labour Court ruled that the training organised by the company constituted a training day under the collective bargaining agreement and that the company should have paid the employee sick pay in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement for said training day.
According to the Labour Court, the employee was entitled to compensation in accordance with the local agreement as sick pay for the training day, just as payment was made to other employees who participated in the training day.
The Labour Court ruled that the company had acted in violation of the collective bargaining agreement in its payment of wages to an employee who was on sick leave.
The Labour Court ordered the company to pay the employee sick pay, including interest for late payment, and ordered the Chemical Industry Federation of Finland and the company to jointly and severally reimburse the Industrial Union for its legal costs, including interest for late payment.
The ruling was unanimous.
