Labour Court overturns ruling on Natus bonus complaint

The Labour Court allowed Natus Manufacturing Limited’s appeal and found Niamh Callanan was not entitled to a bonus under the company’s discretionary plan. In a decision dated 23 July 2024, it set aside the adjudicator’s ruling and found her Payment of Wages Act complaint not well founded. Callanan said she expected a bonus for work from January to July 2022 and had not been told about or given the plan’s policy. Natus said the plan was discretionary and required employees to remain employed on the payout date. Callanan’s employment ended on 4 August, before the 19 August payout. The Court found she had no contractual entitlement to participate and did not meet the plan’s eligibility conditions. It also said it was unfortunate that she had not received full information about how the plan worked earlier.