Courts / Ireland / Report

Worker secures wages order against head lice firm after four-year fight

Summary

Niamh O'Brien, who worked part‑time for Innominato Ltd trading as The Head Lice Experts during her final year of college, brought a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission after discovering that the hours recorded on her payslips were incorrect and that she was underpaid. She claimed €264.07 for the shortfall, €170 for denied breaks, €333.40 for unpaid annual leave upon termination, and €300 for notice pay. O'Brien had resigned on 10 October 2019, giving the required notice, and finished her last shift on 7 December 2019. The company had dissolved in August 2020 due to the Covid‑19 pandemic and declined to respond to the hearing. The adjudicating officer, Michael Ramsay, accepted O'Brien's evidence and ordered the firm to pay €1,067.47, a sum that includes all the amounts claimed. The decision was issued in September 2023, almost four years after O'Brien's initial complaint in November 2019.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Worker secures wages order against head lice firm after four-year fight. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• December 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
• 10 October 2019 Other
• 7 December Hearing Or Sentence
• August 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
• 18 November 2019 Other
• 2023-10-11 Publication

Why: Niamh O'Brien, who worked for Innominato Ltd trading as The Head Lice Experts, said she decided to quit after four and a half months in the job because the "wrong hours" were being put on her payslip and she was being underpaid. CNI source report

Topics

Stage Hearing Or Decision

Read the original CNI report