Labour Court varies sick-pay repayment terms for Office of Public Works worker

The Labour Court varied the repayment terms for a sick-pay overpayment to a worker at the Office of Public Works, directing repayments of €10 a week until the end of 2015. The decision was signed on 9 November 2015. After that, the remaining balance was to be offset against the worker’s losses and the matter settled. The worker, represented by the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union, appealed a Rights Commissioner’s recommendation that the overpayment be divided in half and €4,913.71 recovered, including deductions already made. He said the employer’s mistake caused him losses, he could not afford further deductions and he had not consented to them. The Office of Public Works argued that it had to recover the overpayment and could make deductions. The Court found that the worker had told the employer his sick-pay entitlement had ended, but payments continued. This temporarily increased his earnings and cut off access to State supports. The Court said recovering the overpayment alone would be unfair, while the employer could not make good the temporary effects.