Complainant

Respondent

Parties

John  Lynch

Cpl Recruitment

Representatives

  Self Represented

 Not present

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-00077203-001

05/11/2025

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 25 of the Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Act, 2012

CA-00077203-002

05/11/2025

The Complainant was employed as a Block Layer and claimed he was not paid holiday pay due and that he did not receive the same terms of employment as an Employee of the Main Contractor that he was assigned to work with as an Agency Employee.

The Complainant worked as a Block layer from August 18th 2025 to September 19th 2025 and earned 1,209 Euros per week. His employment ceased in disputed circumstances.

The Complainant stated he did not receive any holiday pay due and claimed holiday pay for the period of his employment.

The Complainant claimed he did not receive the same entitlements as an employee of the Main Contractor he was sub contracted to work with as an Agency employee.

The Respondent was notified of the date, time and method for conducting the Hearing and a Representative of the Respondent informed the WRC by email on March 19th 2026 that the Respondent had ceased trading in November 2025. The Respondent did not attend the Hearing.

Organisation of Working Time Act complaint

The Complainant identified that he worked for 5 weeks and earned 1,209 Euros per week which equates to 6,045 Euros total income for the time employed.

Section 19 of the Act states “.—(1) Subject to the First Schedule (which contains transitional provisions in respect of the leave years 1996 to 1998), an employee shall be entitled to paid annual leave (in this Act referred to as ‘‘annual leave’’) equal to— (a) 4 working weeks in a leave year in which he or she works at least 1,365 hours (unless it is a leave year in which he or she changes employment),

(b) one-third of a working week for each month in the leave year in which he or she works at least 117 hours,

or (c) 8 per cent. of the hours he or she works in a leave year (but subject to a maximum of 4 working weeks).”

Findings

As per Section 19.c of the Act the Complainant is entitled to holiday pay of 8% of the hours worked which equates to 484.60 Euros and based on the uncontested evidence of the Complainant, I award the Complainant 484.60 Euros.

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Act complaint

The Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Act, 2012 (the Act) stipulates that an agency worker should be entitled to equal treatment to a full time Employee in respect of their basic working and employment conditions:

1.- “basic working and employment conditions” means terms and conditions of employment required to be included in a contract of employment by virtue of any enactment or collective agreement, or any arrangement that applies generally in respect of employees, or any class of employees, of a hirer and that relate to –

(a)    pay,

(b)    working time,

(c)     rest periods,

(d)    rest breaks during the working day,

(e)    night work,

(f)      overtime,

(g)    annual leave, or

(h)    public holidays

“pay” means –

(a)    basic pay, and

(b)    any pay in excess of basic pay in respect of –  

(i)      shift work, (ii) piece work, (iii) overtime, (iv) unsocial hours worked, or (v) hours worked on a Sunday,  

but does not include sick pay, payments under any pension scheme or arrangement or payments under any scheme to which the second sentence of the second subparagraph of paragraph 4 of Article 5 of the Directive applies;

Application of Act.

3.- This Act applies to agency workers temporarily assigned by an employment agency to work for, and under the direction and supervision of, a hirer.

Findings

The Complainant could not supply any pay detail or/and a named comparator of the Main Contractor doing a similar job and his complaint therefore fails due to lack of evidence to support his complaint.

I find that the complaint under the Organisation f Working Time Act 1997 is well founded and award the Complainant 484.60 Euros. (CA-00077203-001)

I find that the complaint under the Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Act, 2012 is not well founded. (CA-00077203-002)

Holiday Pay