Labour Court determinations on European Works Council expenses and costs set aside due to errors in legal interpretation

The High Court set aside two determinations of the Labour Court concerning disputes over the funding of expert assistance and training for a European Works Council in a multinational company. The plaintiff, acting as chair of the council, challenged the employer's refusal to cover certain expert fees and training expenses and sought legal costs for pursuing these claims. The High Court ruled that the Labour Court had erred in law by failing to consider the relevant EU Directive and the implementing Irish legislation in a manner that accounted for collective rights, expert costs, and effective access to justice. The Labour Court was found to have incorrectly limited claims to individual rights, ignored relevant EU law, and improperly dismissed the matter of costs as moot simply because the claims were unsuccessful. The High Court remitted the issues for further consideration and reserved the making of final orders pending further submissions. The proceedings highlighted the novel and complex issues arising from the migration of European Works Councils to Ireland and the requirement for Irish law to be interpreted in line with EU law on collective employee representation.