Labour Court recommends further talks on meal breaks at Rye Valley Foods

The Labour Court recommended further discussions about meal-break payments for shift workers at Rye Valley Foods in Carrickmacross. Its recommendation was signed on 26 August 2002. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union sought paid breaks, citing staggered break arrangements introduced with a new warehouse computer system. Rye Valley Foods proposed roster changes to give workers the opportunity to work and be paid for 39 hours a week. The Court recommended discussions on eliminating a shift overlap, the union’s staggered-break proposal and the company’s roster changes. If no agreement was reached, the issue could return to the Court for a definitive recommendation. A separate regrading claim had already been dealt with in LCR17191.