Labour Court rejects Carlow County Council bid to recover acting allowance

The Labour Court ruled on 6 February 2014 that Carlow County Council could not recover acting allowance payments it had authorised to a worker, and found he should be paid as an Acting Assistant Foreman. The worker, represented by the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union, had appealed a Rights Commissioner recommendation that he should not have to repay the money. The Council said an audit found the Acting Foreman rate had been paid by mistake and sought repayment. The Court found successive Managers Orders had authorised the rate, so the payments were not made in error. It also found a Manager’s Order had regraded the worker to Acting Assistant Foreman and said he should be remunerated accordingly.