Dublin Boutique Ordered to Pay Compensation After Unlawful Dismissal of Employee Who Reported Lack of Facilities

A fashion boutique in Dún Laoghaire has been ordered to pay more than €9,300 in compensation to a former employee who was dismissed after raising health and safety concerns.

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ruled that GB Agencies Galway Limited, trading as the YAYA boutique on Georges Street Upper, unfairly penalised shop assistant Fiona Bird in breach of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.

Ms Bird, who joined the boutique in December 2022 after a decade at Pamela Scott in Stillorgan, complained to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) in May 2023 that the store lacked a bathroom and running water for staff. The WRC heard that she was dismissed shortly afterwards without explanation.

Although the company claimed her termination was due to poor performance during a probationary period, Adjudication Officer Penelope McGrath described the justification as “an attempt to shore up a highly problematic dismissal after the event.”

Ms Bird told the WRC she had not been informed of any probationary period and believed she was punished “in the most grievous way” for making a protected disclosure. She added that heating was inadequate in the early months and staff sometimes worked in coats, while the lack of sanitation remained her main concern.

Evidence showed the HSA contacted the company following her complaint, after which a bathroom was installed. The boutique’s director insisted the upgrade had already been planned and denied knowledge of her disclosure. He said staff had been allowed to use a neighbouring café’s facilities in the meantime—an arrangement Ms McGrath described as “not a particularly dignified solution.”

The WRC also found that Ms Bird was never warned about her sales figures, which the company cited retrospectively as evidence of underperformance. Ms McGrath said she was persuaded the employer was aware of Ms Bird’s protected disclosure and that her dismissal was linked to it.

The boutique was ordered to pay Ms Bird €7,500 for penalisation and a further €1,890 for breaches of employment law, including failure to provide a written contract and altering terms regarding probation.