A tribunal has declined to enforce the terms of an RTÉ worker's employment contract after the national broadcaster admitted doubling her salary by mistake.
The Workplace Relations Commission has ruled that the broadcaster acted unlawfully by failing to pay the worker, Mary McLoughlin, the salary set out in her contract of employment - but made a nil award on foot of the breach of the Payment of Wages Act 1991.
The tribunal heard Ms McLoughlin, a copy-taker, joined the broadcaster in November 1996, reached her ordinary retirement age in April 2023, and worked on under a series of fixed-term part-time contracts.
She alleged in her statutory complaint that she was not paid what had been set out in her second post-retirement contract working nine hours a week on 'Liveline’ between 4 April 2024 to 4 October 2024, the WRC heard.
RTÉ’s position was that because of an "administrative error", the contract presented to Ms McLoughlin for this period set her salary at "€12,850 gross in total for contract duration", its solicitor Barry Walsh of Fieldfisher LLP said in a legal submission.
"It should have stated that the complainant would be paid a salary of ‘€12,850 gross per annum’," Mr Walsh said.
"The complainant knew, or ought to have known of the administrative error, in circumstances where this error would have the effect of increasing [her] salary by approximately 103%," Mr Walsh added.
The pay for a full-time equivalent employee in Ms McLoughlin’s role was €27,453 a year, it was submitted.
The mistake did not come to light until Ms McLoughlin got her pay for April and contacted payroll, the WRC noted.
An RTÉ HR manager, Annette Malone, said in evidence that it had been a "genuine human error" and not a promotion for Ms McLoughlin.
There had been "significant" engagement with Ms McLoughlin and her trade union, but she said she "simply could not give 100% of a pay rise of public money".
Ms McLoughlin’s trade union rep, Vivian Cullen of the SIPTU Workers’ Rights Centre, submitted that his client signed the contract she got and that "nobody came to her to tell her there was a mistake".
He said RTÉ had "reneged" on the contract, leaving Ms McLoughlin short €6,425.
Mr Cullen said in cross-examining Ms Malone that "errors have consequences", and asked Ms Malone whether RTÉ had been prepared to "pony up".
Ms Malone replied that she "did not pony up, and never considered it, as this is public money here that we are talking about".
In her decision on the case, adjudication officer Eileen Campbell wrote that it was the sort of mistake which could ordinarily "negate a contract".
However, she wrote that under the Payment of Wages Act framework, there was nothing which allowed an employer to "vary a contract unilaterally". She concluded there had been an "unlawful" deduction from the salary "properly payable" under the contract to Ms McLoughlin and upheld the complaint.
"I make no award, having very carefully considered all of the evidence adduced, and I decide that an award of no compensation is reasonable having regard to all of the circumstances giving rise to this complaint," Ms Campbell added.
