This website contains decisions and determinations of both the Labour Court and the WRC. It also contains decisions and recommendations of the Equality Tribunal since 1996 and post 2007 determinations of the Employment Appeals Tribunal. For more information click here

  Return to Search

LCR22560

FULL RECOMMENDATION

CD/21/234

C-165825-21

RECOMMENDATION  NO.  LCR22560


SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990

PARTIES :

BAUSCH & LOMB
(REPRESENTED BY IRISH BUSINESS AND EMPLOYERS' CONFEDERATION)

- AND -

CRAFT WORKERS
(REPRESENTED BY CONNECT)

DIVISION :

Chairman:

Mr Foley

Employer Member:

Mr Marie

Worker Member:

Ms Treacy

SUBJECT:

1. Public Holiday Arrangements for Weekend Shift Workers.

BACKGROUND:

2. This dispute could not be resolved at local level and in September 2021 was the subject of a Conciliation Conference under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission. As agreement was not reached, the dispute was referred to the Labour Court on 19 October 2021 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Labour Court hearing took place in a virtual setting.

RECOMMENDATION :

The Court has given very careful consideration to the written and oral submissions of the parties.

It proved very difficult for the Court at its hearing to achieve any shared understanding of the exact detail of the matters and practices at issue before the Court.

The Court did establish that the parties are party to a collective agreement dealing with arrangements including pay in respect of Public Holiday working and all matters associated therewith.

No collective agreement was put before the Court to establish the detail of the matters at issue for this group of workers. The employer contended that an error had arisen over a period of years and the Trade Union submitted that the practice over the period had been the subject of some form of agreement between the workers and the employer.

In all of the circumstances, the Court recommends that the practices and arrangements contained in the collective agreement of the parties should apply to the weekend shift workers in the same manner as all other workers. In the event that any worker has suffered a loss as a result of the application of the collective agreement to this group of workers the agreed compensation arrangements should be applied in the agreed manner to those losses.

The Court so recommends.

Signed on behalf of the Labour Court

Kevin Foley

TH

______________________

23 February 2022

Chairman

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Therese Hickey, Court Secretary.