Labour Court upholds Donegal County Council recommendation over five pay increases

The Labour Court rejected a worker’s appeal and upheld the Rights Commissioner’s recommendation over five withheld pay increases at Donegal County Council. The worker, an Assistant Staff Officer, had argued that the increases were due despite her refusal to use Paypath. The Council said Paypath was part of modernisation under national agreements, which linked payment to cooperation with change. The Court found that later national agreements had superseded a 1995 local agreement and made the increases conditional on cooperation with modernisation. It also found that the worker’s reasons for not using Paypath did not qualify as exceptional circumstances under Circular Letter 02/07. The decision was signed on 27 May 2009.