Posted: Wednesday 5 January 2011
Suspended Ambulance Technician Keeps Job
First of all, a very happy new year!
One story that caught my eye in the media over the holidays was that of the ambulance technician who refused to attend at an emergency because he was on his break.
The ambulance technician, Owen McLauchlan, was on his undisturbed 30 minute break. He was entitled to opt out of taking these breaks, receiving a type of compensatory payment instead. Mr McLauchlan chose the undisturbed breaks.
Mandy Mathieson, a 33 year old woman, had a heart attack in her home very close to the ambulance depot. As Mr McLauchlan was on his break, an ambulance had to be dispatched from further away. By the time help arrived Ms Mathieson had, tragically, died.
Mr McLauchlan was suspended but in the last few days it has been reported that he will keep his job. I detected surprise in some parts of the media that this should be the case. Clearly this case is a tragedy. However, leaving any moral views to one side, has Mr McLauchlan done anything wrong from an employment perspective? The answer, in the absence of any express term in his contract of employment which overrides his right to the uninterrupted rest break, is no. He chose to retain his undisturbed 30 minute breaks, which he was entitled to do.
It remains to be seen whether the employer in this case requires to change their internal policies as a result of this situation.
