An innovative employer hired a detective to monitor an employee who was on sick leave, but their attempt to catch her cheating did not end well.

It all began when a Law Office hired a private detective agency to investigate an alleged breach of work obligations by an employee who was on sick leave. The employee, who worked as a trainee lawyer on a fixed-term contract, was later given summary dismissal based on allegations that she had abused her temporary incapacity for work. However, the brave woman decided to fight back and file a lawsuit against her former employer.

The employee won the dispute

After some time, the case ended up at the Municipal Court in Varaždin, where the employee won the dispute against the Law Office.

The court ruled that temporary absence from work due to illness is not a justified reason for terminating an employment contract. The employee argued that she had informed the employer of her illness in a timely manner in the prescribed way and that she was justifiably absent from work. Therefore, that absence cannot be considered a serious breach of work obligation.

The employer, convinced that the employee was lying about her illness because she had not been granted annual leave for the same period, decided to hire a detective to follow her and gather evidence against her. The detective allegedly followed the employee for 16 to 17 hours a day during the period from July 25, 2019 to August 2, 2019. The detective recorded her leaving the house, as well as her visit to the doctor, thus providing evidence that she had indeed been at an examination.

The employee claimed that she left the house only accompanied by her mother, when she went to Mass, visited her general practitioner, psychiatrist, or went to the gym, which had been recommended by the doctor

In order to challenge her illness, the Law Office reported her to the police, requesting an emergency medical examination because of the alleged medications she was taking at the time. The court concluded that the employer had no justified reason for summary dismissal, because temporary absence from work due to illness is not a justified reason for dismissal.