Labour Court overturns time-limit decision and awards Michael McGrath €1,600

The Labour Court set aside a Rights Commissioner’s time-limit decision and awarded Michael McGrath €1,600 compensation for unpaid annual leave and public holidays. Its determination was dated 28 October 2003. McGrath appealed after the Rights Commissioner found his complaint out of time. Cementation Skanska (Formerly Kvaerner Cementation) Limited argued that the claim was late and said revised contracts covered holiday pay from 1 January 2001. The Court found that a colleague’s case had been viewed as a test case and that this caused confusion about the need for individual claims. It accepted that McGrath had reasonable cause for the delay, found no prejudice to the company and found that he had not received his full entitlements during the relevant period.