Luxembourg Airport inconsistent in holiday allocation

Things could be looking up for staff at Luxembourg's Findel airport after a workplace safety agency found the operator had been inconsistent in its allocation of holiday time.

Lux-Airport was recently criticised by RTL for depriving people of owed holiday time in 2013. According to the media organisation its management had rejected 16.7 percent of holiday requests since the beginning of the year.

The “Inspection du travail et des mines" (ITM), which polices illegal workplace practices, says it has requested explanations for the rejected holiday applications.

ITM Director Robert Huberty said that the organisation would continue monitoring the allocation of holiday requests for staff at the airport.

Lux-Airport General Director Fernand Brisbois defended the organisation saying that to his knowledge there had been just one case in which a holiday request was refused.

Nevertheless, he said that there had been delays and some people were not authorised to take leave when requested for organisational reasons, particularly during seasonal peaks such as over the summer.

He insists that staff had not lost their allotted holiday time and could take their annual leave.

Mr Brisbois said that the organisation was not suffering personnel or structural problems. Finally, he said he will meet any requests made by the ITM and examine the facts of the complaints to resolve any outstanding issues.

Luxembourg union OGBL has suggested that staff shortages are the cause of the suspended holiday leave, saying that the situation at the airport is “extremely difficult”. In addition, it said that the operator had sub-contracted security roles to private companies.

Another union, the LCGB, said that the problems were not new. LCGB spokesman Aloyse Kappweiler said that lack of personnel had been a problem for years.

Translated from an article by Gilles Siebenaler