Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Keith  Wright

Luca Bruccola And Darren King

Representatives

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997

CA-00073455-001

15/07/2025

The Complainant was employed by the Respondent as a bricklayer’s labourer from 10 November 2024 until 8 June 2025.  He alleged that he did not receive holiday pay in accordance with the provisions of the Act. 

The Respondent was a sole trader partnership working in the construction industry.  The Respondent denied the allegations. 

The Complainant alleged that he had not received any holiday pay and had asked for it on numerous occasions and eventually handed in his notice on 8 June 2025 in order to receive payment for holidays in full as part of his final payment, however, he stated that to date he had received no holiday pay.

At hearing, the Complainant gave evidence that he had started work on 21 October 2024 but that his first payslip was dated 25 October 2024 and he stated that before his original start date of 10 November 2024 he had worked a full three weeks.  He stated that he got paid for seven weeks in 2024 but received no payslips and he noted that the payslips were missing from the Respondent submission. 

He stated that he had missed a number of days and that he informed the Respondent that this was due to mental health issues.  He stated that he was off between 17 March and June and he was advised that he would be reinstated when his attendance improved.  He confirmed that he had initially provided a medical cert and then was referred to St James’s Hospital and that he had explained that he would be returning for a check-up every week until the middle of June.  He confirmed that he had clarified this with Respondent. 

The Complainant stated that he did not receive a contract so his annual leave was not confirmed to him, however, he stated that he understood that he had 22 days for a 12 month period.  He confirmed that he took no holidays and that he worked a full seven weeks in 2024.  He confirmed that he took 41 days sick leave between January and May of 2025 and he confirmed that by agreement he did not submit medical certificates.  He further gave evidence that he did not get paid for the leave outstanding at the end of the contract. 

The Respondent did not provide a written submission however at hearing he gave evidence as follows.

·        That it was accepted that the Complainant had commenced employment on 21 October 2024

·        That his last day of work was 8 May 2025 but that he got paid up until 30 May 2025

·        That the Complainant sustained an injury on 8 May and that he was paid an additional 15 days

·        That prior to that incident, the Complainant had missed 41 days of sickness between 3 January and 8 May

·        That the Respondent had facilitated the Complainant with a later start time each day due to public transport, and he had a sick cert for a week on 8 May and the Complainant had been paid

·        No medical certs were received thereafter

·        The Complainant had worked between 21 October 2024 and 31 December 2024 and had received his full entitlement to holiday pay and that this was reflected in the days of absence over the Christmas period in 2024

·        That the Complainant was out sick from 3 January 2025 until 8 May and that he was then out due to an injury and that he returned to site on 28 May and worked until 30 May

·        That the Respondent paid him for the period from 8 May to 30 May because the injury was sustained at work

·        That the Complainant gave notice on 8 June of his intention to resign his employment, however he did not work his notice

·        That the Complainant believed it was too dangerous for him to work his notice due to the injuries sustained

·        That the Complainant received payments on 16 June which included the June bank holiday payment

The Respondent stated that the Complainant was entitled to statutory annual leave but that the leave had to be adjusted pro rata by the days of absence.  He stated that before he could issue a P45 or any other documentation to the Complainant, the Complainant had submitted his complaint to the WRC a week after he resigned.  He stated that in total the Complainant had 41 days of absence up to the 8 May 2025.

In conducting my investigation, I have taken into account all relevant submissions presented to me by the parties, as well as information provided at hearing by the parties and their representatives. 

There was no dispute between the parties that the Complainant had an entitlement to 22 days annual leave in a 12-month period and that he commenced working on 21 October 2024. Payroll records submitted by the Respondent post hearing on 7 January 2026 shows that the Complainant had 3.93 days leave left at end of December 2024 and that he was paid for 4 days annual leave. The Complainant post hearing submission of 8 January 2026 supports that position. On that basis I find that the Complainant had no annual leave outstanding from 2024.

In relation to 2025 I note that it was common case that the Complainant was out sick from 3 January 2025 until 8 May and that he did not provide medical certificates for that period.  I note that he was not paid for this period.

I further note that he sustained an injury at work on 8 May and was out sick from that day until his employment ended on 30 May 2025 by virtue of his resignation. The Complainant provided a medical certificate for one week commencing on 8 May but was paid up to the end of May in circumstances where he sustained an injury in the workplace on 8 May 2025.  In these circumstances, I consider the Complainant to have been in paid employment from 8 May 2025 to 30 May 2025.

As there was no dispute between the parties that the Complainant had an entitlement to 22 days annual leave in a 12-month period and as he was I paid employment for a total of 3 weeks and 1 day out of 52 weeks in in 2025, I calculate that the Complainant had an entitlement to 1.30 days leave for the calendar year of 2025.  It is evident from the information provided by the parties that the Complainant did not avail of that entitlement.

Based on the above I find that the Complainant had a total outstanding annual leave entitlement of 1.30 days at the termination of his employment and was entitled to be paid for those days.  Accordingly, I find that his complaint is well founded.

I have found that the Complainant had an outstanding annual leave entitlement of 1.30 days at the termination of his employment, that he was entitled to be paid for those days and that his complaint is well founded. I decide accordingly.

I direct the Respondent to pay the Complainant the amount of €195.00 gross pay.  This amount is subject to normal taxation rules.

Holiday entitlement