The Labour Court allowed Simplytrak (Ireland) Limited’s appeal and set aside a €9,418 award to Seamus Bennett in a dispute over travel time. The determination was signed on 12 March 2019.
Bennett argued that journeys from Kilkenny to the UK should count as working time, putting his hours above the weekly 60-hour limit or the 48-hour average. Simplytrak said his work base was in the UK and that travel from home to that base did not count.
The Court found Bennett’s job was based in the UK and that he was required to start work there. It concluded that only the hours from when he reached his UK base counted as working time, and found that Simplytrak had not breached the rules.
The Court found the complaint not well founded and substituted its determination for the Adjudication Officer’s decision, which had awarded Bennett €9,418.