Labour Court recommends review of Cavan County Council overtime allowances

The Labour Court recommended that Cavan County Council and the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union consider whether to continue embedded overtime allowances for workers in roads and water services, after a public-sector review. The recommendation was signed on 28 August 2012. The Council stopped the payments at the end of June 2012 after restructuring its Engineering areas. The union argued the payments had been made for 25 to 30 years, formed part of workers’ established income and should be treated as allowances in the national review. The Council said they were local overtime payments, not core pay or allowances included in that review. The Court said the payments were allowances for performing certain duties and recommended that their continuation be considered in light of the review’s outcome and any resulting agreement between public-sector employers and unions.