The Labour Court overturned a €2,000 award to Armands Rikmanis after allowing Roskell Ltd’s appeal. The determination was dated 17 September 2012. The Rights Commissioner had found Rikmanis’s complaint well founded and awarded the compensation. Rikmanis claimed annual leave pay for leave he said accrued while absent from work due to illness.
Rikmanis remained employed by Roskell Ltd when he made the claim, and the Court treated it as a claim for payment in lieu of holidays. It said the European cases he relied on did not support payment in lieu while the employment relationship continued. The Court also noted that Roskell Ltd was a private-sector employer, so direct effect of European law could not apply. It invited further legal submissions on whether domestic law could be interpreted consistently with the relevant directive, but none was filed. The Labour Court set aside the Rights Commissioner’s decision.