LCR23304

PARTIES:

DIVISION:

SUBJECT:

Referral under Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990.

BACKGROUND:

This dispute could not be resolved at local level and 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 7 April 2026 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990.

A Labour Court hearing took place on 7 July 2026.

RECOMMENDATION:

The Dispute

This dispute concerns forty-one Operatives (‘the Workers’) employed by Stafford Miller Ireland (‘the Company’) in its Oral Care medical device facility in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. The Company employs 224 employees on this site and is now part of the Haleon Group.

There are two separate bonus schemes in place in the Company: a legacy bonus scheme that has been operating since 1982 and Haleon’s Global Bonus Plan which workers on the site could opt to move to from 2018 onwards. The Workers who are the subject of this dispute chose to remain in the local, legacy bonus scheme.

The Global Bonus Plan provides, inter alia, for Haleon share awards to be granted to employees on reaching 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years of service, respectively. Share awards do not form part of the legacy bonus scheme. The Workers are seeking the cash equivalent of the share awards.-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/

The Union’s Submission

The Union submits that as the shares issue at milestone service points they are essentially service awards and not inextricably connected to performance or attendance. The Union also submits that the Workers' dispute could be settled by payment of a cash equivalent in respect of which the Workers would bear any income tax liability. Of the forty-one Workers in the legacy scheme, the Union submits that only twenty-eight currently stand to meet the criteria to receive the service awards as the others are indefinitely absent from the workplace. In the Union’s submission, the cost to the Company would be €173,010.00 in total, spread over a period of fifteen years.

The Company’s Submission

It is submitted on behalf of the Company that the share awards that form part of the Global Bonus Plan are granted under a Revenue-approved Profit-Sharing Scheme (‘APSS’). It is further submitted that Workers have been advised at all times that, were they permitted to avail of the shares, the application of strict Revenue rules that apply to the APSS would impact negatively on all other employees currently availing of the share scheme. Therefore, in the Company’s submission, the Workers would have to opt to move from the legacy bonus scheme to the Global Bonus Plan in order to benefit from the share grants. The Company is not prepared to pay a cash equivalent to the share grants to employees who have opted to remain in the legacy bonus scheme.

Recommendation

It is self-evidently the case that the Workers have opted to remain in the legacy bonus scheme because they perceive it to be more advantageous to them in a number of respects. In pursuing this dispute, they are seeking to obtain an additional benefit equivalent to an element of the Global Bonus Plan not replicated in the legacy scheme.

In circumstances where the Workers continue to have the option to transfer from the legacy scheme to the Global Bonus Plan, the Court sees no basis for recommending concession of the within claim.

The Court so recommends.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Alan Haugh
CC	______________________
13/07/2026	Deputy Chairman

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be in writing and addressed to Ms Ceola Cronin, Court Secretary.