Airside infringements and employment law

[Riccardo]

Hi guys,

I'd like some thoughts please about airside infringements which effectively lead to employment suspension without any form of disciplinary hearings.

For example, a friend of mine (engineering) recently was called to an aircraft who's commander thought he had a problem with the undercarriage. Assuming (I know - NEVER assume...) the commander had relayed this information to the tower, he approached the aircraft for a closer look before the aircraft would turn onto the stand, which was quite a tight turn.

Because he crossed the line onto the taxiway his ID was pulled by airfield ops for a period of time. The company then refused to pay him for this period.

Under employment law if an offence is committed a disciplinary hearing is required before any sort of suspension without pay is enforced - but what if that suspension is brought about by an outside force - where do we stand?

Appreciate your thoughts........

[GlueBall]

It's general "airside" knowledge that active taxiways are controlled by the tower, and that for vehicular access you need a clearance and you need to be in 2-way radio contact with the ground controller. If your employer did not include this knowledge in your training program, then you can sue your employer for back pay.

[411A]

If your employer did not include this knowledge in your training program, then you can sue your employer for back pay.

And, if they did include this info in training, and the ground engineer simply 'forgot'....he is then SOL.