In a recent Workplace Relations Commission (“WRC”) decision in Ryszard Kulbaka v Drumloman Pork Ltd (ADJ-00051058), the Complainant made several complaints under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 in relation to a shortfall of annual leave over his six-year employment with the Respondent. The Complainant made other complaints under the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994, the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act 1973, and Payment of Wages Act 1991 in which he alleged that the Respondent had failed to issue him with a written contract of employment, that he had not received his public holiday entitlements, and that the Respondent had made unlawful deductions of wages.The focus of this article is on the Organisation of Working Time Act complaints.

Facts: The Complainant gave evidence that he worked at the Respondent’s pig farm between December 2017 and November 2023. It was submitted by the Complainant that he only received a small portion of his annual leave entitlements in each of the six years he worked for the Respondent. In total, the Complainant alleged that the annual leave that he was entitled to but had not received amounted to €11,520.65 across the six years. The Complainant denied that the Respondent had ever advised him that if he did not take his annual leave within each leave year, he would lose his annual leave entitlements. Additionally, the Complainant submitted that he had never received a written contract of employment, thus he was unaware of any term or condition of his employment whereby his annual leave entitlements would be lost if they were not taken, if one existed.

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