Labour Court Upholds Decision of WRC That Company Sick Pay Scheme Was Less Favourable Overall Than Statutory Sick Pay Scheme

The Labour Court recently considered an appeal of a Workplace Relations Commission (“WRC”) decision in Ann Britton v. Amcor Flexibles Ltd ADJ-00050138. The complaint was in relation to the Sick Leave Act 2022 (“the Act”). The WRC Adjudicator had found that the company sick pay scheme (“CSP scheme”) overall was not more beneficial than the Statutory Sick Pay scheme (“SPS scheme”) and on that basis awarded the Complainant compensation of €1,000. The Respondent appealed this decision to the Labour Court who ultimately upheld the decision of the WRC.

Facts: For ease, the Complainant and Respondent as they were referred to in the WRC remain the same in the Labour Court. The Complainant had commenced employment with the Respondent on 20^th April 2023. The Respondent operated a CSP scheme which provided that, following 12 months service an employee may be paid sick leave of up to ten days once a medical certificate was provided on the third day. In the third and fourth year of employment, this would increase to 15 days and 20 days in the fifth year.

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