The Labour Court increased Bob Martin’s award against O'Briens Cabs & Courier Services Limited from €1,750 to €3,000 after upholding his appeal. In a determination signed on 10 November 2005, it found the company had failed to provide annual leave and public holidays as required by law. The award comprised €1,920 for economic loss and €1,080 in compensation.
The company said Martin had agreed to extra pay instead of leave and chose to take only one week’s holiday each August. The Court held that extra pay could not replace statutory paid leave. Martin said he had received one week of paid leave in the 2004–05 leave year, leaving 15 days of annual leave and nine public holidays unpaid.
The Court could not hear his separate appeal about written employment terms, which had to go to the Employment Appeals Tribunal. It lacked jurisdiction over claims for earlier leave years because no extension of the time limit had been sought; the merits of those claims were not decided.