Labour Court rejects worker’s appeal for higher subsistence allowance

The Labour Court rejected a worker’s appeal to retain a higher subsistence allowance after he moved from driver to traffic warden at Kilkenny Borough Council. The Court upheld the Rights Commissioner’s recommendation. The decision was signed on 5 December 2014. The worker, represented by the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union, argued that a 1987 agreement protected the higher allowance after his transfer. The council said he did not spend at least two hours away from base at lunchtime, as required for subsistence payments. The Court found he began work with the council after the agreement and did not meet the criteria for the higher allowance. As a driver he had received €28.35 a week; as a traffic warden he qualified for €1.90 a day in eating-on-site allowance.