This case surrounded an appeal by Mr Stanley against a decision by the Rights Commissioner. The case surrounded a suggestion by the claimant that the respondent had contravened Sections 19 (annual leave) and 21 (public holidays) under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 during the course of his employment with the employer.

The claimant was engaged with the respondent as a 'Technical Crew Member'. This work began in 2005 and at this period the claimant was treated by the respondent as a contractor and therefore was not entitled to holiday leave because he received his payment following invoices. However, in 2012 the Deciding Officer of the Department of Social Protection determined that the claimant was for all purposes an employee of the respondent, so his 'continuous employment' ran from 2005.

Following this decision by the Deciding Officer, the claimant was paid in respect of holidays from 2013. This was the issue of contention in the present case - from what date did the claimant begin to accrue holidays and how much compensation might he be due for annual leave and public holidays not granted? The Rights Commissioner concluded that, with the change of the employees status from contractor to employee, the period in which the claimant began to accrue public holidays and annual leave started from then i.e. September 2012. The Rights Commissioner held that the failure of the employer to provide for this during the period of the decision of the Deciding Officer and 2013 meant that they had breached the Act. Consequently, the respondent awarded the claimant €2,000 in compensation.

The claimant disputed this judgement in this case, claiming that the decision of the Deciding Officer meant that he was entitled to "compensation in an amount that takes account of the totality of his loss over the currency of his employment."

The Labour Court held that the failure of the employer to take into account the period from the decision of the Deciding Officer until the beginning of 2013 meant that the respondent was in breach of section 21 in respect of all public holidays falling within this period. In relation to annual leave, the Labour Court concluded:

"It is clear from the Decision of the High Court in Royal Liver Assurance Ltd v Macken[2002] 4 I.R 427 that a cause of action accrues in respect of a failure to afford an employee annual leave during a leave year at the end of the leave year to which the leave relates. The Act provides that a leave year commences on 1stApril and ends on 31stMarch of the following year. In this case the relevant leave year is that which commenced on 1stApril 2012 and ended on 31stMarch 2013. The Claimant was not provided with 20 days' annual leave during that leave year, in contravention of Section 19 of the Act."

The Macken case ruled that public holidays were stand-alone issues, where time limits run from the date of the public holiday in dispute. The time limit for public holiday claims in this case extended back to 12th October 2012. There was no dispute that the employer met its obligations after 1st January 2013. The Court noted that there were "three public holidays which occurred in that period". Claims relating to public holidays prior to 12th October 2012 were statute barred.

Consequently the court held that the appropriate redress in this situation was to award the claimant compensation. The court awarded the claimant a total of €4,000 in respect of the contraventions of Sections 19 and 21 of the Act.
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