Kildare healthcare provider ordered to pay compensation over holiday entitlements
The WRC awarded €500 in compensation and directed the company to review its practices
A HEALTHCARE provider operating in Kildare has been ordered to pay compensation to a former employee after the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found its method of paying public holiday entitlements breached employment law.
The case involved former support worker Chantel Kelly and her employer, Realta Healthcare Ltd, which provides homecare and healthcare services across Dublin and Kildare.
The WRC awarded Ms Kelly €500 in compensation and directed the company to review its contracts and payroll practices to ensure compliance with the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997.
The dispute centred on public holiday entitlements during Ms Kelly’s employment between April 2023 and August 2025. Ms Kelly claimed she had never received the additional leave, time off in lieu or payment required under legislation for public holidays that fell outside her normal working schedule.
According to evidence presented to the WRC, Ms Kelly worked 48 hours per week as a support worker on a fortnightly pay arrangement. She argued that despite repeatedly raising concerns with management, accounts staff and human resources, she was consistently told her pay and leave records were correct.
Realta Healthcare denied the claim and argued that public holiday benefits had already been incorporated into Ms Kelly’s fortnightly pay. The company maintained that she received an additional amount in each pay period to compensate for public holiday entitlements and submitted payslips in support of its position.
However, the adjudication officer found that while the employee appeared to have received an enhanced rate of pay, the company’s approach did not comply with the legal options available to employers under the Organisation of Working Time Act.
The WRC noted that employers must provide one of four specific public holiday benefits: a paid day off on the holiday, a paid day off within a month, an additional day of annual leave, or an additional day’s pay, and found that incorporating public holiday entitlements into a composite rate of pay was not one of the options permitted under the legislation.
In the final decision, it was stated that the method used by the company created “confusion and ambiguity” about whether the employee had received her statutory entitlements.
The hearing proceeded in April 2026 despite the absence of the respondent company.
While the adjudication officer accepted that Ms Kelly may have received financial compensation broadly equivalent to her public holiday entitlements, she concluded that the manner in which the payments were made was unlawful under the Act, and ordered As well as awarding €500 in compensation, the WRC directed Realta Healthcare Ltd to review its contracts of employment and payroll policies and bring them into line with employment legislation.
