The Labour Court awarded haulage driver Konstantin Agaskov €12,690 in minimum-wage arrears, overturning the dismissal of his complaint against Ballinalard Transport Limited. The determination was signed on 21 June 2013. The Rights Commissioner had dismissed Agaskov’s complaint after he did not attend the hearing; the merits were not decided.
Agaskov said he worked an average of 60 hours a week and was underpaid by €2.82 an hour. Ballinalard Transport relied on tachograph data and signed working-time documents. The Court found the tachograph records could not establish compliance and the documents did not reliably record hours worked excluding breaks.
The Court found that the employer had failed to keep the required records, leaving it responsible for proving compliance. With no reliable evidence, it upheld Agaskov’s complaint. After excluding a period of authorised leave, the Court calculated €12,690 in arrears over 75 weeks and overturned the Rights Commissioner’s decision.