LCR23167

PARTIES:

DIVISION:

SUBJECT:

Referral under Section 20(1) of the Industrial Relations Act 1969.

BACKGROUND:

The Worker referred this case to the Labour Court on 08 May 2025 in accordance with Section 20 (1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969 and agreed to be bound by the Court’s Recommendation.  

A Labour Court hearing took place on 01 July 2025. 

RECOMMENDATION:

Background to the Dispute

The Worker is currently employed as a Shift Leader by Marinochem Limited (‘the Company’) in Cobh, Co. Cork. He commenced employment with the Company as an Operator in 1997 and was promoted with effect from 2021. His original contract of employment with the Company provided that any agreement concluded with a recognised trade union would be incorporated into his contract of employment.

The Company subsequently agreed a succession of agreements with SIPTU that related inter alia to shift patterns and the calculation of payment for public holidays and annual leave. The most recent agreement was concluded in 2022 and it provided that workers would receive 12 hours’ pay for public holidays worked regardless of the number of hours actually worked on the day itself. A condition of the agreement was that no worker would seek retrospective payment for any period prior to the date of the Agreement. The Worker has received and retained the additional payments provided for in the 2022 Agreement.

The Claim

The Worker submits that he was underpaid for public holidays in the period from 2010 to 2022. He is seeking a payment of €6,000.00 by way of reimbursement.

It is submitted on the Company’s behalf that the Worker is bound by the terms of the 2022 Collective Agreement and, in accordance with that Agreement, received and retained a payment in full and final settlement of any historical anomaly that may have arisen in relation to the calculation of payment for public holidays prior to the date of the Agreement, prior to referring the within dispute to the Court.

Recommendation

It is beyond doubt that the terms of Collective Agreements that are entered into between the Company and SIPTU are incorporated into the Worker’s contract of employment. The Worker received and retained the additional payments provided for in the 2022 Agreement and then subsequently sought to resile from a key element of the Agreement to the effect that no retrospective claims could be initiated in respect of public holidays that fell prior to the date of the Agreement.

For this reason, the Court recommends that the Worker should accept that what he has received and retained under the 2022 Agreement is in full and final settlement of the within claim. The Court does not recommend any further concession be made to the Worker.

The Court so recommends.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Alan Haugh
ÁM	______________________
22 July 2025	Deputy Chairman

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Decision should be addressed to Ms Áine Maunsell, Court Secretary.