''Massive wake-up call to employers who expect employees to be available 24 hours a day seven days a week"
A business executive at a subsidiary of meat producer, Kepak has been awarded €7,500, after they were forced to deal with out-of-work emails - including some after midnight, which in turn led to an excess of 48-working hours per week.
At the Labour Court, Kepak Convenience Foods Unlimited Co has been ordered to pay former business development executive, Gráinne O'Hara €7,500 in compensation, over repeated breaches of the Organisation of Working Time Act.
Solicitor, Richard Grogan said today that the "excellent, very clear and precise" Labour Court ruling "will serve as a massive wake-up call to employers who expect employees to be available 24 hours a day seven days a week."
He said: “The law is very clear. Employees are entitled to an uninterrupted 11-hour break between finishing work and starting work the following day.”
Mr Grogan said that employers have left themselves "open to claims when requiring employees to be available 24/7. It is a health and safety issue."
In the case, Ms O’Hara’s contract of employment with the Kepak firm required her to work 40 hours per week but she argued that she worked close to 60 hours a week, sometimes dealing with work emails after mid-night.
Something the Labour Court found to be a breach of her contract.
