Brennan Bakeries to pay €15k to former worker dismissed for smoking in company carpark

Worker's van was approximately 20 yards from a diesel tank, 50 yards from the boiler house, and 75 yards from the flour silos

Worker was seen on CCTV smoking in his personal van in the site parking lot, rather than the designated smoking shed.

A former employee of Joseph Brennan's Bakeries has been awarded €15,000 for unfair dismissal after he was fired for smoking in his van in the bakery car park.

In a decision issued by the Workplace Relations Commission on 22 May 2023, it was ruled that although smoking outside a designated smoking area was against Joseph Brennan’s Bakeries’ company policy, there were a number of “serious defects” in the process of dismissing the employee.