Labour Court backs contracted work on 27 December at Roches Stores in Limerick

The Labour Court recommended that staff at Roches Stores (Limerick) with contracts requiring them to work on 27 December should work that day. Longer-serving staff were not being asked to work. The recommendation was dated 27 September 1999. The company sought to open after Christmas while protecting the three-day break for longer-serving staff. Mandate argued that the arrangements required collective agreement and that a change should bring an improvement in wages or conditions. The Court said the traditional day off depended on local agreement and found no reason for staff with contracts requiring work on 27 December not to do so.