Labour Court rejects SIPTU claim for Christmas overtime rates

In 2009, the Labour Court recommended that Musgrave Retail Partners Limited not concede the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union’s (SIPTU) claim for Christmas-period overtime rates for drivers recruited since 2002. The recommendation was dated 17 November 2009. SIPTU argued the drivers should receive the overtime rates preserved for 26 drivers under a 2002 agreement. It said a company document issued in 2005 extended those terms to newly appointed drivers. Musgrave said drivers required to work over Christmas had been paid the basic rate since the agreement. The Court said the 2002 agreement clearly limited the premium rates to the 26 drivers and did not recommend conceding the claim.