Juliet O’Connell’s company ordered to pay €11,417 over underpayment

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Labour councillor Juliet O’Connell’s company was ordered to pay €11,417 after the Workplace Relations Commission found employment rights breaches against former employee Patricia Oropeza-Vedia. The proceedings were reported on 19 April 2024.

The award followed complaints involving back pay and compensation against O’Connell’s company, which traded as The Zip Yard Dún Laoghaire. Adjudicator Catherine Byrne found a gross wage shortfall of €6,016 between February 2022 and February 2023, compared with the €30,000 annual salary stated in the work permit.

The WRC also found that the employee’s interior designer job description did not reflect her work in the business, where she was expected to serve customers at the counter.

O’Connell resigned from the Labour Party. The party said she would not be its candidate in the local elections and that it learned of the WRC finding after receiving a press query on 19 April 2024.