Edward Lattich wins €23,000 over excessive hours at dairy
Edward Lattich began working for Mount Temple Dairy Farm Limited in County Westmeath in December 2024, seeking experience in the dairy sector. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found that his average workload over the 19 weeks covered by the case was approximately 77 hours a week.
Lattich told the commission that he received €2,500 a month irrespective of the number of hours worked. He said his normal schedule was about 14 hours a day, that breaks were generally unavailable and that much of his time was spent on the farm carrying out assigned duties.
His hours rose in January 2025 as the farm prepared for and entered the calving period. He said he usually worked seven days a week. Photographs taken while carrying out his duties were submitted to support his account. The WRC recorded more than 192 hours in December, 353 in January, 357 in February, 366 in March and 199 in April.
Adjudicator Brian Dolan found that Lattich had been underpaid €10,420.13 in wages under the Payment of Wages Act. The overall award also included sums for an unpaid Sunday premium, public-holiday entitlement, the absence of a required daily rest interval, the failure to provide a weekly rest period and annual leave outstanding when his employment ended. Compensation was included for breaches of the relevant legislation.
Kelvin Hyland of Peninsula Business Services Ireland, representing the farm, challenged Lattich’s calculations of the underpayment and disputed some of his recorded finishing times. Hyland said the employer’s accountant had calculated the amount due using the national minimum wage and the farm’s own record of hours. On that basis, the gross amount owed was put at €6,895.07.
The WRC criticised the employer’s failure to keep working-time records. It said no records of any kind had been maintained, leaving the respondent responsible for demonstrating the accuracy of the hours worked. The commission also recorded the employer’s acceptance that Lattich had not been paid at least the national minimum wage for every hour worked.
The employer argued that the arrangement involved additional hours during the calving season, which would balance out during quieter periods in the farming calendar. The adjudicator said this arrangement did not remove the legal requirement to pay at least the national minimum wage for each hour worked and upheld the complaint.
