Stable staff at Aidan O’Brien’s all-conquering yard in Ballydoyle are working up to 19 hours a day, the Labour Court was told yesterday. It was also claimed that some employees at the stable had worked for up to 28 days consecutively. The case was brought after an inspection by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), which issued a compliance notice after uncovering a number of alleged breaches with regard to excessive working hours. The WRC’s case argues that training and looking after racehorses does not constitute agricultural work as it is defined in industrial relations law. As such, it should not be exempt from the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1998, the legislation under which the compliance notice was issued.

Source: The Times July 26, 2017 23:02 UTC