Coffee advisor at Nespresso franchise wins payout over failure to pay Sunday premium

The firm which operates the Nespresso contract, the Sandyford-registered McCurragh, told the WRC that “the cost of any premium work must be approved by Nespresso”. File photo: Budrul Chukrut

A firm that operates the Nespresso franchise at Arnotts in Dublin has been ordered to pay a coffee advisor €1,008 over its failure to pay the worker a Sunday premium.

Coffee advisor Carol Lombard is paid a basic €14 per hour but the firm which operates the Nespresso contract, the Sandyford-registered McCurragh Limited, argued that the Sunday premium is included in the €14 hourly rate which it argued is a composite hourly rate.

However, at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), Brian Dalton has found Ms Lombard's complaint is well-founded and found that the firm breached the Organisation of Working Time Act 997 by not paying Ms Lombard a Sunday premium.

Mr Dalton found that Ms Lombard should have been paid one-and-a-half times her usual hourly rate on a Sunday.

The award would have been far higher but for the fact that the Nespresso franchise was closed for the relevant six months due to Covid-19 restrictions and Mr Dalton concluded that Ms Lombard suffered no financial loss and no award has been made for loss.

Ms Lombard works 12 hours a week for McCurragh and Mr Dalton awarded her six weeks' compensation for McCurragh Ltd's failure to comply with the Organisation of Working Time Act.

WRC findings

Mr Dalton found that there is no evidence to support the proposition that Ms Lombard’s €14 rate in fact does take account of Sunday work. Mr Dalton stated: “In these circumstances, the employee is entitled to the appropriate means as set out in the Act.” 

He declared that the complaint is well-founded as the employer asserted that Ms Lombard is required to work a Sunday based on a €14 hourly composite rate, absent of a contractual right to do so, without any additional compensation as required by the Act and that contravention continues.

Mr Dalton said that McCurragh had made representations for a 25% Sunday premium for its staff “and this was not agreed to by Nespresso”. McCurragh told the WRC that “the cost of any premium work must be approved by Nespresso”.

In his findings, Mr Dalton found that, in the absence of any reference in the contract to Sunday work and to a term that the rate of pay incorporates a Sunday work premium, it cannot be inferred from the fact that the hourly rate is above average that it implies that it incorporates a premium for Sunday work.

Ms Lombard told the hearing that comparable employees within Arnott's business received time-and-a-half for Sunday working.

'Very happy'

On behalf of Ms Lombard, MANDATE Divisional Organiser, Robert McNamara said on Tuesday that Ms Lombard is “very happy” with the outcome.

He said: “The adjudication copper-fastens that time-and-a-half is the applicable rate for working Sundays and the decision is a cautionary tale for employers to make sure that they comply with the Organisation of Working Time Act."

Mr McNamara said that Ms Lombard continues to work on the Nespresso account for McCurragh Ltd. He said: “This case points up that these sub-contractors should make sure that they can comply with legislative provisions in Ireland concerning the likes of the Organisation of Working Time Act when they take on these contracts.” 

Mr McNamara said that McCurragh Ltd has not yet paid the €1,008 award to Ms Lombard, stating that it is still open to McCurragh to appeal the WRC decision to the Labour Court.

He said that the vast majority of employers in the retail sector do pay the Sunday time-and-a-half premium. He said: "We very much welcome the WRC adjudication."

The most recent accounts for McCurragh Ltd show that it recorded pre-tax profits of €361,000 in the 12 months to the end of June 2021 as revenues totalled €6.88m. The firm employed 140 during the period.