Business

Trucker awarded more than €14,000 over not being provided data on hours worked

Workplace Relations Commission upholds complaint against logistics firm Wentworth Transport

The Workplace Relations Commission upheld a complaint by a truck driver under the EU road transport working time directive. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins

Stephen Bourke
Mon Dec 12 2022 - 17:43

A logistics firm that failed to hand over tachograph data to a truck driver who asked to see the working hours recorded by his employer has been ordered to pay him more than €14,000 in compensation.

The Workplace Relations Commission has upheld a complaint by Tymoteusz Ogrocki under the EU road transport working time directive against Wentworth Transport Ltd, trading as CLF International Freight, in a decision published today.

Giving evidence with the aid of an interpreter, Mr Ogrocki told the tribunal at a hearing in April this year that he was not provided with either a copy of his hours or a written statement of his terms and conditions of employment.

Two witnesses from the company also gave evidence, with the adjudicating officer, Conor Stokes, recording that there was no conflict in evidence between the parties.

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Wentworth Transport managing director Gary Conlon, who appeared to represent the company, said it “did retain a copy of the complainant’s hours and tachograph recordings”.

Mr Conlon admitted that the company did not provide Mr Ogrocki with written terms of employment and said it had been “negligent in this matter”.

The adjudicator, Mr Stokes, noted that the regulation required a haulage firm to keep a record of a commercial driver’s work pattern, including weekly rest periods and work done for another employer.

The employer was bound to keep the records for two years and produce them either at the request of the worker or to an enforcement officer.

“I am satisfied that the complainant requested copies of his records as provided for [by the regulations]. I am also satisfied that this request was not complied with as the respondent required time to assemble the records. Therefore, I find that the complaint is well founded,” wrote Mr Stokes in his decision.

He ordered Wentworth Transport to pay Mr Ogrocki 26 weeks’ net pay in compensation – €14,300 for a breach of the European Communities (Road Transport) (Organisation of Working Time of Persons Performing Mobile Road Transport Activities) Regulations 2012.

Mr Stokes also noted that the firm accepted not providing the complainant with a written statement of his terms and conditions and ordered further compensation of €1,650 for a breach of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994.

The total awarded to Mr Ogrocki was €15,950.

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