Labour Court upholds €650 award to Gabriel Delee on Kostal Ireland GmbH appeal

The Labour Court upheld Gabriel Delee’s Payment of Wages Act complaint and directed Kostal Ireland GmbH to pay him €650 compensation. The determination, dated 18 February 2022, varied the Adjudication Officer’s decision. The dispute followed a temporary drop in demand in 2019, when the company cut the working week from five days to three for 213 staff. Delee said his contract did not allow the reduction in his hours and pay. Kostal argued that a collective agreement authorised the change and that short-time working on reduced pay was an established practice. The Court found that the agreement’s reference to layoff did not clearly authorise reducing Delee’s contracted hours and wages. It also found that a disputed event in 2008 did not establish a workplace custom and practice. The wage shortfall was an unlawful deduction, and the complaint was well founded. The Court set compensation at €650, taking account of the circumstances, including State support Delee received while he was without work and pay.