Labour Court finds agency drivers paid less when not working overtime

The Labour Court found that Denis Coakley, Kevin James, Jason Martin, Jakub Bojanowicz and Gediminas Janisionis, agency truck drivers employed by Ire Recruitment Ltd and assigned to Greenstar Limited, were paid less than comparable direct employees when they did not work overtime. The Court also found that the agency drivers who did work overtime might be paid more or less, depending on their hours. It rejected their claim to the same basic hourly rate in isolation, saying pay must be compared as a whole, including overtime rates. Ire Recruitment Ltd had appealed the Rights Commissioner's decision, which found the claim well-founded. The Court ordered calculations of each driver's hours over the previous six months and said it would hear further submissions before deciding whether compensation was due and how much. The determination was signed on 19 December 2014.