The Labour Court overturned a Rights Commissioner’s time-limit decision and awarded Stephen Hayes €7,300 compensation over unpaid annual leave and public holidays. The determination was dated 28 October 2003.
Hayes said he had waited for the outcome of a colleague’s case, which workers understood would resolve the issue for everyone. Cementation Skanska (Formerly Kvaerner Cementation) Limited argued his claim was out of time and said revised contracts covered holiday pay from 1 January 2001. The Court found that the test-case understanding had reached workers, causing confusion about whether individual claims were needed. It accepted that Hayes had reasonable cause for the delay and that the company suffered no prejudice. The Court also found that he had not received his full annual-leave and public-holiday entitlements during the relevant period.