Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Darina Grogan

Primark Penneys

Representatives

Self-represented 

Michael McGrath Ibec

Act

Complaint 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-00075617-001

22/09/2025

The Complainant referred her complaint to the Director General of the WRC on 22 September 2025. She alleged that she was not given compensation for working on a Sunday.

The Respondent rejects the claim.

In her WRC complaint referral form, the Complainant asserted that she worked on Sundays from 11am to 6pm and got 7 hours pay at a double time. However, since she came back from maternity leave, she is working from 11am to 6pm and still gets paid for 7 hours, working 1 hour for nothing.

In her subsequent correspondence, the Complainant clarified that she used to work 11am – 6pm and got paid 7 hours, she is now working 10am -6pm, and she is still getting paid 7 hours.

Summary of direct evidence and cross-examination of the Complainant

The Complainant gave evidence that she used to work from 11am to 6pm on Sundays with one hour lunch break. She was paid for her lunch break. Currently, she works from 10am to 6pm and is still paid for 7 hours. She was told that she was paid for her lunch break in error. She said that the change was implemented at some stage in 2024 when she returned from her maternity leave.

The Complainant accepted that she was paid at double time for all hours worked on Sundays. She typically worked one to two Sundays per month, although during the Christmas period she often worked every Sunday.

The Complainant could not identify the Sundays worked or the number of Sundays worked within the cognisable period.

The Complainant made allegations that she was victimised because she was the only manager on the specific type of contract (‘6 over 7 contract’).

In cross-examination, the Complainant agreed that she was paid double for every hour she worked on a Sunday. She said that she was looking to be paid for her lunch hour at a double rate.

The Complainant was directed to a document in the Respondent’s booklet of evidence, which listed all the Sundays the Complainant had worked on from 9 February 2025 to 21 September 2025, and the payment for same. The Complainant did not dispute that the document was factually correct. She did not dispute that she was paid double (at €40.89) for every hour worked on a Sunday.

The Complainant agreed that her claim was the same as the grievance she had previously raised with the Respondent. The Complainant said that the issue was not the rate of pay but the extra lunch hour that she did not work and was not paid for.

In response to a question from the Adjudication Officer, the Complainant confirmed that she was entitled to a one-hour lunch break during which she was free to spend her time as she wished. She was not required to remain on the premises and could leave and return after the break. The Complainant further confirmed that she was paid at a double rate for all hours worked, but that her lunch break was unpaid.

Mr McGrath, on behalf of the Respondent submits as follows.

The claim is misguided as the Complainant understands that she is paid double time for all hours worked on a Sunday. The Complainant’s issue is that she was previously paid inadvertently for her 1-hour break whereas now she is not. It is not, in fact, a Sunday premium claim. The Respondent disputes the claim under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 in full.

The Complainant accepts that she is paid double time for all hours she has worked on a Sunday. Therefore, she has not established a prima facie case that a breach of section 14 has occurred. The matter should be disposed of at this point.

The Complainant commenced employment with the Respondent on 20 September 2007. She is currently in employment as a Department Manager in the Respondent’s store located in Laois Shopping Centre and earns a gross salary of €51,025. Her hourly rate is €20.44. Her double time rate is €40.89.

The Complainant is paid a salary and normally works 40 hours per week. The Complainant would generally work one in four Sundays apart from peak trade and annual leave adjustments. On the weeks that the Complainant works a Sunday, she receives double time for the hours worked on that Sunday. She has worked 9 Sundays in the relevant period and has been paid double time for all hours worked.

The Complainant is currently on a contract where hours worked on a Sunday are paid at a double time as they are worked as a 6th day. The contract states:

2.05 There are no fixed hours of work. Your working hours shall be such as may be requisite for the proper discharge of your duties and will normally be worked over 5 days in any 6 (excluding Sundays).

2.06 You will have a liability to work on Sundays and Public Holidays. However Sundays and Public Holidays working for managers will be rostered on an equitable basis and any hours worked will be paid at a premium rate of Time and a Half. Additionally statutory entitlements for public holidays will apply. On completion of three years continuous service, the premium will increase to Double Time for hours worked.

Background to the claim

On 8 July 2025 the Complainant raised a grievance that she was being paid incorrectly for her Sunday shifts after returning from maternity leave 12 months previously. She stated that she previously worked a seven-hour shift and was paid for seven hours at double time but now works an eight-hour shift for the same pay.

The Respondent submitted that her previous paid lunch was actually an overpayment error. The Respondent explained that paid lunch breaks were only intended for managers who were required to remain on-site during their break, whereas the Complainant confirmed she left the store. Consequently, the Respondent concluded that she is currently being paid correctly for the hours she physically works i.e. double-time for all hours worked on a Sunday. The appeal outcome was issued on 19 September 2025. The Complainant submitted her claim to the WRC on 22 September 2025.

At no stage within her grievance did the Complainant dispute that she was paid at least double time for every hour she worked on a Sunday. In fact, in her original grievance she states.;

‘I did 11am-6pm I got paid for 7 hours @ double, now I’m in @ 10am-6pm and I’m still getting paid 7 hours @ double which makes no sense’.

Respondent’s Position

The Complainant has taken a claim under section 14 of the Act, which provides the following types of compensation shall be provided to an employee who works a Sunday:

(a) by the payment to the employee of an allowance of such an amount as is reasonable having regard to all the circumstances, or

(b) by otherwise increasing the employee's rate of pay by such an amount as is reasonable having regard to all the circumstances, or

(c) by granting the employee such paid time off from work as is reasonable having regard to all the circumstances, or

(d) by a combination of two or more of the means referred to in the preceding paragraphs.

As the Complainant has been paid double time for every hour she has worked on a Sunday the Complainant has been paid in accordance with section 14.

The Complainant alleges that she was not given compensation for working on a Sunday. The Respondent rejects the claim.

The Law

Section 14 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 as amended stipulates:

14. Sunday work: supplemental provisions

(1) An employee who is required to work on a Sunday (and the fact of his or her having to work on that day has not otherwise been taken account of in the determination of his or her pay) shall be compensated by his or her employer for being required so to work by the following means, namely—

(a) by the payment to the employee of an allowance of such an amount as is reasonable having regard to all the circumstances, or

(b) by otherwise increasing the employee's rate of pay by such an amount as is reasonable having regard to all the circumstances, or

(c) by granting the employee such paid time off from work as is reasonable having regard to all the circumstances, or

(d) by a combination of two or more of the means referred to in the preceding paragraphs.

In Park House Hotel Ltd. v Wlodarczyk DWT1624, the Labour Court held that what was intended by this section was that an employee who is obliged to work on a Sunday is entitled to compensation for that obligation in the form of a benefit which he or she would not receive if they were not so obliged.

There was no dispute that the Complainant’s contract, which she signed on 6 October 2007 states as follows.

“You will have a liability to work on Sundays and Public Holidays. However, Sundays and Public Holidays working for managers will be rostered on an equitable basis and any hours worked will be paid at the premium of Time and a Half. Additional statutory entitlements for public holidays will apply. On completion of three years continuous service, the premium rate will increase to Double Time for hours worked.” (my emphasis).

There was no dispute that the Complainant is paid a double rate of pay at €40.89 for every hour worked on a Sunday. At the hearing, the Complainant sought a payment for an unpaid break time. While the Respondent is required, pursuant to section 14 of the Act, to compensate the Complainant for being required to work on Sunday, there is no requirement under section 14 of the Act for the Respondent to compensate the Complainant for her break times.

I declare this compliant to be not well founded.

Sunday premium