Labour Court rejects union claim for continuous break allowance at Castolin

The Labour Court did not recommend conceding the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union’s claim for continuous staggered-break allowance payments to a general float operative at Castolin Eutectic Ireland Ltd. The recommendation was signed on 19 September 2011. The union argued that a company agreement entitled float operatives to the allowance whenever they made themselves available to cover staggered breaks. The company said it paid the allowance when workers actually covered breaks and that the agreement did not cover general float operatives. The Court noted that the worker was not contractually required to stagger breaks and was not in a category expressly covered by the agreement.