The Workplace Relations Commission awarded Odhran Dooley €8,500 after finding that Midland Tyre Services breached daily rest rules and the average 48-hour working-week limit. The decision was dated 5 May 2023.
Dooley worked as a fitter for the company from September 2021 until his dismissal in February 2022. He said long hours and night call-outs left him with little rest before returning to work. The company said his missing written contract was an oversight and that he failed probation because of his attitude and refusal to work on-call.
The €8,500 comprised €3,500 for the daily-rest breach and €5,000 for excessive average hours. The WRC also awarded €1,090.90 for each of two breaches of written employment terms and €300 for a breach of notice requirements for additional hours. A statutory notice complaint was upheld, but no compensation was awarded because Dooley had received a week’s pay in lieu of notice.
Of the 22 complaints, the WRC found four other complaints not well founded and withdrew the equality complaint; the remaining complaints without awards were also not well founded. In plain terms, several claims succeeded, while most were rejected or withdrawn.