Labour Court rejects Carlow council driver's appeal over public holiday pay

The Labour Court rejected Mr Eamon Coughlan’s appeal over Carlow County Council’s calculation of his public holiday pay, finding that overtime and two allowances did not have to be included. The determination was dated 12 July 2022. Mr Coughlan, a council driver and plant operator, argued that regular and rostered overtime, an eating-on-site allowance and an on-call allowance should count towards his holiday pay. The council said it complied with the law. The Court found the regulations exclude overtime, the eating-on-site allowance was not treated as pay for tax purposes, and the on-call allowance varied according to his availability for duty. The Court limited the claim period to 9 September 2020 to 8 March 2021 and affirmed the earlier decision that the council had calculated public holiday pay correctly during that period.