Dismissed for COVID mistake

Doesn’t matter. She’s worked there for less than 12 months so it’s tough luck really. There’s nothing she can do whether you think she’s been hard done by or not.

Far West Cork (Agricole) is to Cork City is about 2.5hours on google maps.

Was it outside work time? It seems they were sent by their employer, I would hope they were being paid during that time.

100% correct.

It is your employer's business, though, if you bring them into disrepute.

"COVID outbreak traced to West Cork hotel; employees flouted COVID guidelines" is not a good look or headline for any business trying to recover from the last 18 months. Going to work with COVID symptoms, then stopping for lunch as opposed to self-isolating while you await your COVID test results is at least two examples of gross misconduct/incompetence.

It all comes down to her terms and conditions, what is in her contract, specifically regarding Covid.

And if she signed such of course.

If she didn't well the hotel as a problem.

It's not illegal for me to take sleeping pills, but if I come to work while they're still in my system and I cause an accident in which you get hurt, am I completely off the hook or will you hold me responsible and want to see me reprimanded for that?

Similarly, it's not illegal for me to have the flu nor are there any particular recommendations needed if I do catch it as there is with Covid, but if I work in a nursing home, come to work with the flu and then wipe out one of your family members along with several others, would you want me to carry on working there as normal or would you want to see me sacked or heavily reprimanded and to potentially sue the home for negligence?

Because you don't have to break a specific law to be deemed negligent. Employers, unlike employees, have a direct obligation to prevent the spread of Covid or they face closure. Employees have a direct obligation to co-operate with their employer in so doing and if they blatantly fail to do that, then that's strong grounds for dismissal. There is no excuse for not knowing how to handle a suspected Covid case at this stage.

Well which is it - did they eat outdoors or did they take the meal away and eat it in the car?

I'm assuming from the reference to 24 hours for results that, for whatever reason, they were sent to a private rapid PCR place of which there are not many. But the story has so much missing info that its impossible to be sure.

Unfortunately it's probably more common that people think.

We had a colleague phone up to ask if he should come in while he had a fever and a cough. No joke. He says he hadn't been tested so doesn't know if it's Covid or not so isn't sure if it's OK to come to work. LOL.

Another colleague came in with symptoms and was sent home. Only after sitting for a good 30 minutes coughing his lungs up. Tested positive. Thankfully nobody else did.

Client who had a positive covid test phoned up to ask if they could come in anyway. Again, what is going on in their brain?

All of these people were young but still.

Person shows up to work with symptoms. Gets sent away and told to get covid test. Decides to go for a bite to eat and then bafflingly tells employer this bit of information. Is then surprised when they got dismissed.

The easy solution here is to realize you have symptoms phone employer and say "I am a bit sick today probably just a cold but I will go and get tested just incase." Then do not contact employer until test result is received. Who the hell is thinking "you know what I'll just go in" and then when obviously sent for a test thinks "you know what else I think I'll go to the testing center furthest away from here and make sure I let everyone know I stopped for food on the way".

Oh I do love these litigation comments on threads like this

There is always someone on a thread who is telling someone else to start suing left right and centre.

Where as in reality it's never as straight forward as the OP likes to describe it.

Oh the point had gone well off topic at that stage, it's just always worth pointing out how big/great Cork is.