Dismissed Bank Employee to be Reinstated

The court of appeal has upheld a decision by the commercial court that an employee of a bank in Luxembourg, owned by a Japanese bank, should be reinstated following an attempt to dismiss them.

According to ALEBA, the trade union representing staff working in the financial sector in Luxembourg, the union initiated a procedure before the Luxembourg courts, so that its Staff Delegate was reinstated to his position at a Japanese bank, KBL Luxembourg. The court found in favour of ALEBA, and the Court of Appeal of Luxembourg, in a judgment of 23 March 2017, agreed that the bank should reinstate the employee and ALEBA Staff Delegate in his function.

The bank, however, refused to execute this court decision. Faced with the seriousness of the situation, ALEBA then requested not only meetings with Luxembourg's Minister of Labour and the Inspectorate of Labour and Mines (ITM), but also organised several protest meetings in front of the bank.

Due to not respecting their decision of the Court of Appeal, the dank had been ordered by the ITM to pay a heavy fine. For its part, ALEBA managed to be heard by the parent company of the bank in Japan, through the backing of the international union UNI Global Union, thereby generating an international impact and scope on this issue.
The bank, while still not complying with the decisions of Luxembourg courts and laws, decided a few months ago to refer the matter to the Court of Appeal (Cassation). On 14 June 2018, the Court of Appeal confirmed the judgment of the original court, asking the bank to reinstate the employee and ALEBA Staff Delegate.

"It's another judicial victory for ALEBA! But above all, this file proves, once again, that ALEBA is ready to go all the way in defending and protecting employees and staff representatives in the financial sector! We do not accept and will never accept such social injustices, nor the non-compliance with Luxembourg laws and rules, by an employer" said Roberto SCOLATI, President of ALEBA, who indicated that the reinstatement of ALEBA Staff Delegate is now underway.