Labour Court upholds €4,000 award to farm labourer after employer’s appeal

The Labour Court rejected Thomas Dixon’s appeal and upheld a €4,000 award to farm labourer Rimantas Plytninkas for breaches of working-time, annual-leave and public-holiday rules. The determination was signed on 11 October 2011. Dixon disputed Plytninkas’s account of his hours and said he had paid money in lieu of annual leave. The Court found that Plytninkas worked an average of 53.5 hours a week and that Dixon had failed to keep the required records or prove compliance with the Act. The Court also upheld the finding that Plytninkas was due 13.3 days of annual leave for work between January 2007 and 30 May 2008. It concurred with the Rights Commissioner’s finding on public holidays and required Dixon to pay the €4,000 award.