Labour Court rejects Services Industrial Professional Technical Union claim on holiday pay during sick leave

The Labour Court did not recommend conceding the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union’s claim that a public holiday during sick leave should count as sick leave, with the holiday entitlement provided when the employee returned. It separately recommended that Group 4 Securicor (Ireland) Ltd give staff greater clarity about its arrangement. The recommendation was signed on 22 September 2008. The union argued that the arrangement failed to provide the proper public holiday entitlement. The company said employees received a full day’s pay for a holiday without reducing sick-pay entitlement. The Court said its industrial-relations jurisdiction did not extend to interpreting the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 in this referral, and found no reasonable basis to recommend changing a practice that had operated for more than 10 years without objection.