I'm drunk, you can't fire me!

By Emma Thelwell, ninemsn Money
January 16, 2009

Turning up for work blind drunk in the middle of a global economic crisis is arguably the fastest route to getting fired. At least, you'd reckon.

Not in South America. A court in Peru has set a new, and disturbing, standard after ruling that employees cannot be fired for being intoxicated on the job.

The Constitutional Tribunal court in Lima has ordered that Pablo Cayo, a janitor from the suburb Chorrillos, be given back his job on the grounds that the firing was excessive.

One of the justices, Fernando Calle, said that while Cayo was admittedly drunk, he did not offend or hurt anyone. The ruling spurned outrage from the Peruvian government, yet Calle said the court did not intend to revise its decision.

Labour Minister Jorge Villasante said: "It's not a good idea to relax rules at workplaces", according to reports from Peru.

Meanwhile, the administrative chief of Chorrillos, Celso Becerra, denounced the court's ruling. He told Reuters: "We've fired four workers for showing up drunk, and two of them were drivers.

"How can we allow a drunk to work who might run somebody over?"