[Ireland] Piggery operator liable for €14k historical annual leave owed to single worker

In Ireland, a piggery worker given just 18 days’ paid holidays in six years by his boss has won nearly €14,000 after the employer was found liable for unpaid annual leave dating back over half a decade, The Irish Times reports.

Ruling on the worker’s statutory complaints, a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adjudicator stated that the man’s former boss “did not appear to be concerned that he had a worker who kept working and did not avail of his right to paid time off for the entire six years that he worked for him”.

Four complaints were brought by Ryszard Kulbaka against the piggery operator, Drumloman Pork Ltd, under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 and the Payment of Wages Act 1991. They were upheld by the tribunal in a decision published on October 7.

Mr Kulbaka reportedly said - in evidence given via a Polish interpreter at a September hearing - that he had worked for the Co Cavan pig farm, earning the minimum wage from December 2017 to November 2023, feeding the animals and disinfecting holding pens.

Mr Kulbaka’s case was that he never received written terms of employment in the six years he was employed there and that the most annual leave he ever received in a full year was five days, despite a statutory entitlement to four weeks’ paid leave.

He had no paid time off at all in 2017 despite being entitled to 18.5 hours of paid leave due to the short time he worked at the farm that year. Mr Kulbaka told the tribunal that he got four days’ leave the following year - rather than the four weeks set out in law - meaning he had been left short by €1,658.09 that year.

He had between two and five paid days off each year up to 2022 and only a single day’s leave in 2023, he said.

It was reportedly submitted on Mr Kulbaka’s behalf that he was due wages in lieu of annual leave totalling €11,520.65, along with smaller sums for the non-payment of wages due for weekend work and a public holiday.

Adjudicator Emile Daly wrote in her decision that there was “clear” European case law placing an onus on an employer to prove a worker had been allowed to take their annual leave and to “exercise due diligence to ensure that the leave is taken”.

“If the employer is relying on ‘use it or lose it’ warnings, there must be clear evidence of this,” she added.

However, she found that Mr Briody had failed to show in his evidence that he exercised due diligence or warned Mr Kulbaka that if he failed to take his leave, he would lose it.

Mr Briody “seemed not fully aware of how fundamental annual leave is as a social right” and “did not appear to be concerned that he had an employee who kept working and did not avail of his right to paid time off for the entire six years that he worked for him”, Ms Daly wrote.

Ms Daly reportedly found it “noteworthy” that Mr Briody had criticised Mr Kulbaka for not giving him four weeks’ notice but “did not appear to be concerned that his business availed of a worker who took only a few days each year of his annual leave entitlement.”

She ruled the working time complaint on annual leave well-founded and ordered the company to pay Mr Kulbaka €11,520.65; stating that the award reflected the loss of annual leave from December 2017 to November 2023.

In addition, Ms Daly noted that when she had invited Mr Briody to provide a copy of a contract he said was provided to Mr Kubalka in 2017 for inspection he “chose not to”. She accepted the complainant’s evidence that he got no contract and awarded him four weeks’ gross pay for a breach of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, €2,245.

She also reportedly accepted the concession of the claims concerning unpaid public holidays and unauthorised deductions from wages awarding the worker €36.61 for the pay claim and €90.40 for the failure to provide for public holiday pay. In total Drumloman Pork Ltd was ordered to pay Mr Kulbaka €13,892.66.

Source: The Irish Times

(Quotes via original reporting)

In Ireland, a piggery worker given just 18 days’ paid holidays in six years by his boss has won nearly €14,000 after the employer was found liable for unpaid annual leave dating back over half a decade, The Irish Times reports.

Ruling on the worker’s statutory complaints, a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adjudicator stated that the man’s former boss “did not appear to be concerned that he had a worker who kept working and did not avail of his right to paid time off for the entire six years that he worked for him”.

Four complaints were brought by Ryszard Kulbaka against the piggery operator, Drumloman Pork Ltd, under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 and the Payment of Wages Act 1991. They were upheld by the tribunal in a decision published on October 7.

Mr Kulbaka reportedly said - in evidence given via a Polish interpreter at a September hearing - that he had worked for the Co Cavan pig farm, earning the minimum wage from December 2017 to November 2023, feeding the animals and disinfecting holding pens.

Mr Kulbaka’s case was that he never received written terms of employment in the six years he was employed there and that the most annual leave he ever received in a full year was five days, despite a statutory entitlement to four weeks’ paid leave.

He had no paid time off at all in 2017 despite being entitled to 18.5 hours of paid leave due to the short time he worked at the farm that year. Mr Kulbaka told the tribunal that he got four days’ leave the following year - rather than the four weeks set out in law - meaning he had been left short by €1,658.09 that year.

He had between two and five paid days off each year up to 2022 and only a single day’s leave in 2023, he said.

It was reportedly submitted on Mr Kulbaka’s behalf that he was due wages in lieu of annual leave totalling €11,520.65, along with smaller sums for the non-payment of wages due for weekend work and a public holiday.

Adjudicator Emile Daly wrote in her decision that there was “clear” European case law placing an onus on an employer to prove a worker had been allowed to take their annual leave and to “exercise due diligence to ensure that the leave is taken”.

“If the employer is relying on ‘use it or lose it’ warnings, there must be clear evidence of this,” she added.

However, she found that Mr Briody had failed to show in his evidence that he exercised due diligence or warned Mr Kulbaka that if he failed to take his leave, he would lose it.

Mr Briody “seemed not fully aware of how fundamental annual leave is as a social right” and “did not appear to be concerned that he had an employee who kept working and did not avail of his right to paid time off for the entire six years that he worked for him”, Ms Daly wrote.

Ms Daly reportedly found it “noteworthy” that Mr Briody had criticised Mr Kulbaka for not giving him four weeks’ notice but “did not appear to be concerned that his business availed of a worker who took only a few days each year of his annual leave entitlement.”

She ruled the working time complaint on annual leave well-founded and ordered the company to pay Mr Kulbaka €11,520.65; stating that the award reflected the loss of annual leave from December 2017 to November 2023.

In addition, Ms Daly noted that when she had invited Mr Briody to provide a copy of a contract he said was provided to Mr Kubalka in 2017 for inspection he “chose not to”. She accepted the complainant’s evidence that he got no contract and awarded him four weeks’ gross pay for a breach of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, €2,245.

She also reportedly accepted the concession of the claims concerning unpaid public holidays and unauthorised deductions from wages awarding the worker €36.61 for the pay claim and €90.40 for the failure to provide for public holiday pay. In total Drumloman Pork Ltd was ordered to pay Mr Kulbaka €13,892.66.

Source: The Irish Times

(Quotes via original reporting)