Trinity Leisure Holdings Ltd. (t/a Trinity City Hotel) v Kolesnik & Anor [2019] IEHC 654 (07 October 2019)
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THE HIGH COURT
[2019] IEHC 654
[2017/ 81 MCA]
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPEAL PURSUANT TO SECTION 46 OF THE WORKPLACE
RELATIONS COMMISSION ACT, 2015
BETWEEN
TRINITY LEISURE HOLDINGS LIMITED TRADING AS TRINITY CITY HOTEL
APPELLANT
AND
SOFIA KOLESNIK AND NATALIA ALFIMOVA
RESPONDENTS
JUDGMENT of Mr. Justice Binchy delivered on the 7th day of October, 2019
1. This is a judgment on an appeal brought by the appellant against a decision of the Labour
Court of 17th January 2017. As prescribed by O. 84 (C) of the rules of the Superior
Courts, the appeal is brought by way of an originating notice of motion, grounded on an
affidavit sworn on behalf of the appellant by a Mr. Ronnie Neville, solicitor, of Mason
Hayes and Curran, solicitors for the appellant. Provision for such appeals is made by s. 46
of the Workplace Relations Act 2015, on a point of law only.
2. The respondents advanced identical claims against the appellant alleging various breaches
of employment law legislation, only one of which is relevant to this appeal, and that is the
claim that the claimants were not paid a premium for working on Sundays. That claim is
advanced pursuant to s. 14(1) of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 (“the Act of
1997”). The appellant seeks, inter alia, the following orders: -
(i) An order declaring that the Labour Court erred in law in assuming jurisdiction under
s. 14(1) of the Act of 1997, or in applying that section to the respondents in
granting them relief pursuant to the same;
(ii) An order allowing the appeal on the ground that the Labour Court erred in law in
awarding Sunday premium to the respondents;
(iii) A declaration that the Labour Court erred in law in determining that the appellant
had to tender evidence in relation to what element of the respondent’s hourly rate
of pay was specifically referable to them having to work on Sundays;
(iv) A declaration that the Labour Court erred in law in failing to find the fact of the
respondents having to work on Sundays had been taken into account in the
determination of their pay.
3. A statement of opposition was delivered on behalf of the respondents in which they fu
deny each ground of appeal relied upon by the appellant in its appeal/notice of motion.
In summary, the repsondents plead that the decision of the Labour Court involves
unappealable findings of fact, and that the appellant has failed to identify any errors of
law on the part of the Labour Court in arriving at its decision.
4. The first named respondent originally entered into her contract of employment on 10th
September 2007, and the second named respondent entered into her contract of
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employment on 11th September 2006. The respondents were not initially employed by
the appellant and their respective employment contracts transferred to the appellant in
September 2013 pursuant to the EC (Protection of Employment on Transfer of
Undertakings) Regulations 2003, S.I. 131 of 2003. Their contracts made provision for
payment of salary at an hourly rate, which, on the date on which their claims were made,
was in each case €9.53 per hour. In each case, the contract having stated the hourly rate
of pay, goes on to state: -
“This includes your Sunday premium based on you getting every third Sunday off
(i.e. you work two Sundays out of three). Payment will be made weekly with one
week in arrears and will be paid directly into your bank account [...]”
5. It was the respondent’s contention before both the Labour Court and the Rights
Commissioner that where a Sunday premium is included in an employee’s rate of pay,
then some element of the employees pay must be specifically referable to the obligation
to work on Sundays. Since in this case the contract did not identify any element of the
claimants’ pay as being a premium for working on Sundays, then it follows that the fact of
the employees having to work on Sundays has not been taken into account, and the
employees are therefore entitled to be compensated in accordance with those provisions
of s. 14(1) of the Act of 1997 that apply where the fact of an employee having to work on
a Sunday has not been taken into account in the determination of his or her pay.
6. In response to this, it is the appellants’ case that the determination of the employee’s pay
does take account of the fact that they are required to work on Sundays, because this is
expressly stated to be so in the contracts, and there is no requirement that the contract
should identify how much of the hourly rate of pay is specifically referable to Sunday
work.
7. The Labour Court held against the appellant, in each case in identical terms, on the
grounds that: -
“[...] the respondent failed to tender any evidence to the court in relation to what,
if any, element of the complainant’s hourly rate of pay was specifically referable to
her contractual obligation to work on Sundays. It follows that the respondent’s
cross appeal in this regard fails. At first instance, the adjudication officer directed
the respondent to pay the complainant ‘a premium of 30% of the basic rate for all
hours worked on Sundays falling within the period 25th September 2013 to 24th
March 2014’. The court affirms that decision”.
8. Section 14(1) of the Act of 1997 provides as follows: -
“14. — (1) An employee who is required to work on a Sunday (and the fact of his or her
having to work on that day has not otherwise been taken account of in the
determination of his or her pay) shall be compensated by his or her employer for
being required so to work by the following means, namely—
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(a) by the payment to the employee of an allowance of such an amount as is
reasonable having regard to all the circumstances, or
(b) by otherwise increasing the employee's rate of pay by such an amount as is
reasonable having regard to all the circumstances, or
(c) by granting the employee such paid time off from work as is reasonable
having regard to all the circumstances, or
(d) by a combination of two or more of the means referred to in the preceding
paragraphs.”
9. In the event of a claim being advanced by an employee to a rights commissioner (now ,
since the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 , an adjudication officer) or the Labour Court,
pursuant to the Act of 1997, subsections 14(3) – (6) provide a mechanism for
determining reasonable compensation to employees in respect of Sunday work, by
reference to collective agreements for comparable employees.
10. On this appeal, it is the respondents’ case that the decision of the Labour Court is to the
effect (although it is not actually stated in the decision) that the fact of the employees
having to work on Sundays has not been taken into account in the determination of their
pay. As is apparent from the extract from the decision of the Labour Court quoted above,
the precise conclusion that that it arrived at, and the reason that it affirmed the decision
of the Adjudication Officer, was that it found that the appellant had not tendered any
evidence as to what, if any, element of the respondents’ pay related to their obligation to
work on Sundays. It is the respondents’ case that this is a decision on a matter of fact,
and not on a matter of law, and is not therefore amenable to appeal. This, it is submitted,
is well established by a long line of authorities (to which I refer below). Furthermore, it is
argued that if a Sunday premium is included in an employee’s rate of pay, then some
element of that rate of pay must be specifically referable to the obligation to work on
Sundays, and it was a matter for the appellant to give evidence in this regard, and it
failed to do so. It is submitted on behalf of the respondents that for this reason the
Labour Court was correct to reject the appellant’s appeal. The Labour Court made its
decision based upon the evidence before it and it is unclear how it can be argued that it
made an error of law in doing so. The respondents suggest that these proceedings are
being used as yet another appeal on the same points, rather than on a meritorious point
of law.
11. It is submitted that the Labour Court properly applied the express terms of the contract
and, in accordance with the parole evidence rule, found that the appellant had failed to
tender evidence in relation to what, if any, element of the hourly rate of pay was
specifically referable to the contractual obligation to work on Sundays. Since the written
contracts set out the hourly rate of pay without any ambiguity, they are not amenable to
variation by parole evidence, even had such evidence been presented, which it was not.
Specifically, the respondents argue that since the employment contracts make no
reference to the minimum wage, this Court should not have any regard to whatever the
minimum wage may have been at any point in time in considering whether or not the
employment contracts of the respondents take into account the requirement to work on
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Sundays. This point is made in response to arguments made on behalf of the appellant
both at the hearing of this appeal and before the Labour Court.
12. It is submitted on behalf of the appellant that the decision of the Labour Court is based on
three clearly identifiable errors of law as follows: -
(1) The Labour Court incorrectly assumed jurisdiction to consider the respondents’
claim to Sunday premium in circumstances where the employment contracts state
that the requirement to work on Sundays had been taken into account in the
determination of the respondents’ pay.
(2) The Labour Court failed to give any consideration as to whether or not it had any
jurisdiction to examine a claim for Sunday premium in circumstances where the
first limb of s.14(1) of the Act of 1997 has been complied with i.e., where the
contract states that the requirement to work on Sundays has been taken into
account. Instead, the Labour Court proceeded directly to consider the claim of the
respondents.
(3) Thirdly, if the Labour Court was entitled to find that the respondents were entitled
to an additional Sunday premium (which is denied), it failed to consider afresh the
appropriate premium to be awarded to the respondents, but rather simply endorsed
the amounts awarded by the adjudication officer, without due consideration,
including inviting submissions from the appellant, and having regard to the wording
of s.14(2) of the Act of 1997.
13. Both parties made comprehensive submissions on the jurisdiction of this Court in appeals
from the Labour Court. Both parties referred to the same passage from the decision of
Hamilton C.J. in the case of Henry Denny & Sons (Ireland) Limited v. Minister for Social
“That the Court should be slow to interfere with the decisions of expert
administrative tribunals. Where conclusions are based upon an identifiable error of
law or an unsustainable finding of fact by a tribunal such conclusions must be
corrected. Otherwise it should be recognised that tribunals which have been given
statutory tasks to perform and exercise their functions, as is now usually the case,
with a high degree of expertise and provide coherent and balanced judgments on
the evidence and arguments heard by them, it should not be necessary for the
courts to review their decisions by way of appeal or judicial review.”
14. Both parties also referred to the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Mara
(Inspector of Taxes) v. Hummingbird Limited [1982] ILRM 421, in which case Kenny J., in
considering the approach to be taken where mixed questions of fact and law arise held: -
“If they are based on the interpretation of documents, the courts should reverse
them if they are incorrect for it is in as good a position to determine the meaning of
documents as is the Commissioner. If the conclusions drawn from the primary
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facts are ones which no reasonable Commissioner could draw, the court should set
aside his findings on the ground that he must be assumed to have misdirected
himself as to the law or made a mistake in reasoning. Finally, if his conclusions
show that he had adopted a wrong view of the law, they should be set aside.”
15. Both parties also referred to and relied upon the decision of Baker J. in Health Services
Executive v. Sallam [2014] IEHC 298, a case which also considered an appeal from the
determination of the Labour Court. In that case, Baker J. stated: -
“The power of the High Court in an appeal from a determination of the Labour Court
was explained by McCracken J. in the Supreme Court in National University of
follows: - at para. 9: -
‘The respondents submit that the matters determined by the Labour Court
were largely questions of fact and that matters of fact as found by the Labour
Court must be accepted by the High Court in any appeal from its findings. As
a statement of principle, this is certainly correct. However, this is not to say
that the High Court or this Court cannot examine the basis upon which the
labour court found certain facts. The relevance, or indeed admissibility, of
the matters relied upon by the Labour Court in determining the facts is a
question of law. In particular, the question of whether certain matters ought
or ought not to have been considered or taken into account by it in
determining the facts.’
This Court, then, may on appeal consider whether the Labour Court wrongly took
into account or ignored a fact or piece of evidence, incorrectly applied a legal test in
coming to a conclusion, or erred in law in its interpretation of the law.”
16. Counsel for the respondents in this case argue that cases such as Health Services
Executive v. Sallam and National University of Ireland Cork v. Ahearn make it clear that in
considering appeals from the Labour Court, this Court is obliged to afford the decision of
the Labour Court a curial deference. In this regard the respondents also rely upon the
decision of Gilligan J. in Electricity Supply Board v. The Minister for Social Community and
“I take the view that the approach of this Court to an appeal on a point of law is
that findings of primary fact are not to be set aside by this Court unless there is no
evidence whatsoever to support them. Inferences of fact should not be disturbed
unless they are such that no reasonable tribunal could arrive at the inference drawn
and further if the court is satisfied that the conclusion arrived at adopts a wrong
view of the law, then this conclusion should be set aside. I take the view that this
Court has to be mindful that its own view of the particular decision arrived at is
irrelevant. The Court is not retrying the issue but merely considering the primary
findings of fact and as to whether there was a basis for such findings and as to
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whether it was open to the appeals officer to arrive at the inferences drawn and
adopting a reasonable and coherent view, to arrive at her ultimate decision.”
17. The respondents submit that no error of law on the part of the Labour Court has been
identified by the appellant. The employment contracts are clear and give rise to no
ambiguity. They provide for an hourly rate of pay to the claimants. While that hourly
rate of pay is stated to take account of the fact that the claimants are required to work on
Sundays the contracts do not explain how this is so, and nor did the claimant present any
evidence before the Labour Court to explain how the rate of pay takes into account the
requirement of the claimants to work on Sundays. Moreover, the Labour Court would not
have been entitled to hear such evidence, had it been tendered, if the effect of such
evidence would be to vary the unambiguous contractual terms as set out in the written
contracts of employment.
18. Counsel for the appellant also relies on the decision of Earagail Eisc Teoranta v. Doherty
& Ors. [2015] IEHC 347, a case in which the appellant employer submitted that the
Employment Appeals Tribunal had erroneously interpreted s. 5(1) of the Payment of
Wages Act, 1991 (the “Act of 1991”) and had incorrectly proceeded on the basis that the
provisions at subs. (a)-(c) of that section were to be taken conjunctively. The court was
satisfied that this argument concerned a point of law and concluded that there was a
manifest error in the tribunals’ interpretation of s. 5 of the 1991 Act. Kearns P. held at p.
26: -
“I have carefully considered the submissions of both sides and am satisfied that
there is a manifest error of law in the tribunals’ interpretation of s. 5 of the 1991
Act. The determination of the tribunal clearly indicates the tribunals’ view that,
pursuant to s. 5(1)(c) of the 1991 Act, the written consent of the employees was
required before the appellant company could bring about any changes to salary
levels. However, these exceptions listed at (a),(b) and (c) of s. 5(1) are clearly not
to be taken conjunctively. The word “or” is expressly used in the provision and it is
clear that each subsection concerns separate instances which might give rise to an
exception to the rule that an employer shall not make a deduction from the wages
of an employee. Sub-section (b) states that deductions are allowable where they
are authorised by virtue of an employees’ contract of employment, which is
something the tribunal should have considered independently of sub-section (c).
However, in treating ss. (a) – (c) as conjunctive, the tribunal erred in law.”
19. Counsel for the appellant also referred me to a number of decisions of the Labour Court
itself in which it considered claims advanced under s. 14 of the Act of 1997. In the case of
Group 4 Securitas v. SIPTU [DWT 996] the Labour Court held that s. 14 of the Act of
1997 did not allow for a claim of enhancement of the premium paid to employees in the
security industry in respect of Sunday working, the premium for which was IR£5, and had
been set some thirteen years previously. The Labour Court in its decision stated: -
“Section 14(1) Of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997, clearly states that
where an employee's pay has not taken account of the requirement to work on
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Sunday, he/she shall be compensated. In this case the employee is paid an
allowance for working on Sunday and, therefore, does not have a case under the
Act. The court does not consider that section 14, under which this claim has been
brought, allows for a claim for enhancement of the rate.”
20. In the case of Duesbury Limited, T/A Old Ground Hotel v. Mary Frost [DWT 1032], the
claimant gave evidence that she had become employed by the respondent in that case in
1996, when it took over ownership of the hotel. She claimed that while employed by the
previous owner, she was paid double time in respect of working on Sunday, but this was
discontinued by the respondent when it took over the hotel. She claimed that the
obligation to work on Sunday was not taken into account in her personal rate of pay.
21. The witness for the respondent gave evidence as to her belief that the claimant’s rate of
pay included consideration for working on Sundays, but she was not employed by the
respondent when the claimant’s rate of pay was fixed and had no involvement in fixing
the same. Crucially, the evidence given on behalf of the respondent was unsupported by
any documentary records or other corroborative evidence of any kind. In those
circumstances, the Labour Court stated that it could not accept the evidence of the
respondent as going far enough to rebut the direct evidence of the claimant. The court
also stated in its decision that: -
“It is clear from subsection (1)(b) of this section [ i.e. s.14(1) of the Act of 1997]
that the right to compensation for Sunday working can be satisfied where the
requirement is taken into account in determining the employee’s rate of pay. This
suggests that some element of the employee’s pay must be specifically referable to
the obligation to work on Sundays.”
22. The case of Duesbury was referred to in the decision of the Labour Court in this case,
arising out of the fact that before the Labour Court , counsel for the appellant had
referred to that decision for the purpose of distinguishing the facts in Duesbury from the
facts in this case. The Labour Court thought that the appellant was relying on Duesbury
in support of its arguments in this case, whereas on this appeal it was submitted that
counsel for the appellant was referring to Duesbury to the intent of distinguishing the
facts in that case from the facts in this case. In its decision the Labour Court stated: -
“However, notwithstanding the respondent’s purported reliance on the
determination in Duesbury, the respondent failed to tender any evidence to the
Court in relation to what, if any, element of the Complainant’s hourly rate of pay
was specifically referable to her contractual obligation to work on Sundays.”
This gave rise to an additional ground of appeal on the part of the appellant in this
appeal.
23. In the case of Matthew Scally and Aoife Lynch and Michelle Kelly, [DWT 13102] the
Labour Court found in favour of the claimants in circumstances where the respondent was
unable to say how the rate of pay of the claimants was computed. Moreover, the hourly
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rate paid to the claimants was directly in line with that prescribed by the then applicable
employment regulation order, which rate was exclusive of Sunday premium. For this
reason, the court was satisfied that the rate paid to the claimants did not contain any
element of compensation for the purposes of s. 14 of the Act of 1997.
24. Finally, I was referred to the case of Paul Fitzpatrick, t/a The Morgan Hotel and Jarmila
Riecka [DWT 1523] which is probably the most relevant of these cases because the
claimant’s contract of employment expressly provided that her salary took account of the
obligation to work on Sundays. Unfortunately, the precise wording of the contract of
employment of the claimant in that case is not recorded in the decision of the Labour
Court. However, the court held: -
“On its plain and ordinary meaning, paras (a)-(d) of this subsection take effect only
where the fact of the employee being required to work on Sunday is not otherwise
taken into account in determining his or her pay. The court has reviewed the
claimant’s written contract of employment and it is satisfied that the fact of her
having to work on Sundays was taken into account in determining her salary. It
follows that the respondent did not contravene s. 14 of the Act in relation to the
claimant.”
Discussion and Decision
25. It is not in dispute that the claimants were required to work two out of three Sundays.
The Labour Court found as a fact that this requirement had not been taken into account in
the determination of the claimants’ pay. The Labour Court arrived at this finding of fact
on the basis that the appellant did not adduce any evidence at the hearing before the
Labour Court to satisfy the Labour Court that the respondents’ pay took into account their
obligation to work on Sundays.
26. While submissions appear to have been made to the Labour Court to the effect that the
minimum wage was at all relevant times less than the hourly rate paid to the
respondents, and that this was how the pay of the respondents took into account their
contractual obligation to work on Sundays, no oral evidence was given to the Labour
Court to this effect, and nor is this stated in the contracts of employment of the
respondents. There was therefore no evidence of any kind presented to the labour Court
relating to this issue, to the intent of proving that the excess of the rate of pay over the
minimum wage was the means by which the rate of pay took account of the obligation to
work on Sundays.
27. However, it is not correct to say that there was no evidence at all before the Labour Court
as regards the question as to whether or not the rate of pay of the respondents takes
account of the requirement to work on Sundays. The Labour Court had before it written
evidence, in the form of the contracts of employment of the respondents. The language
used in the contracts is plain English and could not be more clear. The contracts state
that the hourly rate of pay “includes your Sunday premium based on you getting every
third Sunday off”. The wording is not buried in small print somewhere in the middle of
the contract, but appears on the front page thereof, in the third clause of the contract.
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28. Section 14(1) of the Act of 1997 imposes an obligation on employers to pay a reasonable
remuneration to employees in respect of Sunday work by reference to stated criteria set
out in ss.14(1)(a)-(d), unless the requirement to work on Sundays is otherwise taken into
account in the rate of pay of the employee. Here , in stating that the hourly rate of pay
“includes your Sunday Premium” the contracts make it clear that the requirement to work
on Sundays is included in the rate of pay of the respondents,or, in the words of the Act of
1997, is “taken into account in the rate of pay of the employee”, and in executing the
contracts, the respondents accept that to be the case.
29. Neither of the decisions of the adjudication officer or the Labour Court record any
evidence having been given either by the appellant or the respondents in either forum on
this question, although it is clear that submissions on the question were made. However,
it hardly needs to be said that submissions are not evidence. The only evidence presented
to either forum on the question was the contract of employment in each case, which
contained a clear and unambiguous statement,i.e., that the rate of pay included the
Sunday Premium, based upon the repondents having every third Sunday off.
30. It is the respondents’ contention that the court ought to take account of the vulnerable
position that employees such as the respondents are in when presented by an employer
with such contracts, and that it is the duty of the employer to ensure that the contract
clearly identifies the portion of the hourly rate of pay that relates to Sunday work. Having
failed to so provide in the contract, or to give any evidence on the issue, the appellant, it
is submitted, has failed to establish that the rate of pay of the respondents takes account
of the requirement to work on a Sunday for the purposes of s.14(1) of the Act of 1997.
31. The difficulty with this line of argument is that it ignores not just the clear and
unambiguous language of the contracts of employment, but also the fact that the
respondents do not appear to have given any evidence on the question. If they did, it is
not recorded either in the decision of the adjudication officer or the Labour Court, and nor
were any submissions made to me as regards the evidence that they gave on the
question.
32. While a statement in a contract that the rate of pay takes account of the requirement to
work on Sundays may not always be conclusive , if an employee wishes to assert that
the rate of pay does not do so then in my opinion he or she must advance some credible
evidence to rebut the express provision of the employment contract, or at least so as to
shift the onus of proof in the matter to the employer,although he or she will still have to
overcome the parole evidence rule. However, it may be possible to do so. For example it
might be that events have overtaken the contract, and that surrounding circumstances no
longer reflect that which was originally agreed. For example, if the rate of pay provided
for in the contract ,was at the time the contract was completed, greater than the
statutory minimum wage, but is no longer so at the time the complaint is advanced , it is
difficult to see how that rate of pay could still be said to reflect the requirement to work
on a Sunday, since that is the minimum rate of pay which the employer must in any
event pay. Whatever the reason, faced with written evidence of his or her own
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agreement that his/her hourly rate of pay takes into account an obligation to work on
Sundays, an employee advancing a claim under s. 14(1) of the Act of 1997 must lead
some evidence to explain why he/she claims that what is stated in the contract is not
correct. In failing to do so, the employee leaves the contract unchallenged, and the
employer is under no obligation to go into evidence on the issue
33. Upon receiving a complaint from an employee that his or her rate of pay does not take
account of the requirement of Sunday work, it is obvious that the Labour Court must
undertake an investigation as to whether or not this is so. Its conclusion on the issue
constitutes a finding of fact, which, in the ordinary course, in accordance with the
authorities referred to above, will not be disturbed by this Court. In this case however
that finding of fact was arrived at by the Labour Court on the basis that the appellant
“failed to tender any evidence to the court in relation to what, if any, element of the
complainants’ hourly rate of pay was specifically referable to [their] contractual obligation
to work on Sundays”. In the circumstances of the case, this was a conclusion on a matter
of law, because in so deciding the Labour Court decided that a clear statement made in a
contract of employment signed by both parties may not be relied upon ,and instead must
be proven in a particular way. In drawing this conclusion the Labour Court in my view
made an error of law.It did so firstly by ignoring the express statement in the contracts of
employment of the respondents, that their hourly rate of pay includes their Sunday
premium. Secondly it did so by interpreting the Act of 1997 in such a manner as to
impose an obligation on an employer either to ensure that a contract of employment is
drawn up in a particular way i.e., to explain by way of a breakdown any statement to the
effect that an hourly rate takes into account the obligation to work on a Sunday, or,
alternatively, to adduce oral testimony at the hearing of a complaint pursuant to s. 14 of
the Act of 1997 in order to prove a statement agreed expressly to by an employee in
his/her contract of employment.
34. Finally, I should address one other argument advanced on behalf of the respondents. It
was argued that, pursuant to s. 3(1)(g) of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act,
1994 (the “Act of 1994”), there is an obligation on the employer to show the method of
calculation of the employees’ remuneration, and that it cannot be said that the appellant
has done so in this case. The failure to comply with the provisions of the Act of 1994 is of
course a separate complaint, and one which the respondents made in this case also,
together with other complaints under the Act of 1994. The Labour Court determined
those complaints in favour of the respondents, but considered that the breaches of the
1994 Act were technical and did not cause the respondent any detriment. However, the
decision of the court does not record any specific breach of s. 3(g) of the Act of 1994. In
the context of this appeal however, the respondents point to s. 3(1)(g) of the Act of 1994
to bolster their argument that there is an obligation on an employer to identify the
element of the rate of pay of the respondents that is specifically referable to the
contractual obligation to work on Sundays. However, this argument must also be
rejected because it is clear that in providing simply that the respondents are to be paid a
specific rate per hour worked, the appellant has met its statutory obligation to the
respondents under s. 3(1)(g) of the Act of 1994.
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35. For these reasons the appeal must be allowed, and the claim of the respondents under s.
14(1) of the Act of 1997 dismissed.
Result: The appeal was allowed, and the claim of the respondents under s. 14(1) of the Act of 1997 was dismissed.
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