LCR23175

PARTIES:

DIVISION:

SUBJECT:

Appeal of Adjudication Officer Decision No's: Section 20(1) Industrial Relations Act 1969 (Referral under Section 20(1) of the Industrial relations Act 1969)

BACKGROUND:

The Worker referred this case to the Labour Court on 6 November 2024 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 11 July 2025.

RECOMMENDATION:

This matter comes before the Court as a referral by SIPTU Trade Union under Section 20(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969.

The Union submitted that they were taking this case on behalf of three of their members and acknowledged that the outcome was binding on the Workers. The Workers are pursuing a payment of a 2% pay increase on their hourly rate of pay for the years 2019 and 2020. The Union set out the background to the claim in respect of the rejection by the Union of WRC and Labour Court recommendations that issued in February 2016 and October 2016. The Company paid no increases between 2015 and 2018 but in 2019 and 2020 the Workers in this case received 2% in each year by way of a lumpsum that was not applied to their salary, and therefore was not pensionable. Pay increases after 2020 were applied in the normal manner to the Workers’ wages.

One of the Workers raised an individual grievance about the payments in 2021, but his grievance was not upheld by the company. The Workers are seeking to have the payment for 2019 and 2020 applied to their salaries.

IBEC on behalf of the Employer submitted that this matter has been dealt with by the Court on a number of previous occasions LCR21340 November 2016, LCR21655 February 2018 and LCR21994 April 2019. The Employer operated in line with the WC proposals as recommended by the Court.

This dispute extends beyond these three Workers and could have an impact for a broader group of employees. The claim should be dismissed on the basis that the Court has already addressed this. 

 The Court notes that no explanation was forthcoming as to why this issue was being raised now in 2025 when it applied to 2019 and 2020. The Court also notes that the Workers in question accepted the lumpsum payments at the time and have waited five years to raise this as a collective issue.

 Noting that the decision to pay a lumpsum did not happen in a vacuum but was part of other issue arising at the time, which the Court has previously sought to address, the Court does not recommend concession of this claim.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Louise O'Donnell
AR	______________________
26 AUGUST 2025	Deputy Chairman

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Mr Aidan Ralph, Court Secretary.