The Jurys hotel group could face a bill running into millions of euro if a High Court action being taken by its casual staff is successful.
It is claimed by casual banqueting waiting staff that the system used by the Jurys hotel group to distribute the service charge to them was "wrong and grossly unfair".
The High Court, sitting in Dundalk, was told by one casual worker that he would only get his share of the 12.5 per cent service charge if he worked at a function, whereas a permanent member of staff got a share whether or not they were working at the function. The court also heard casual staff were told that if they complained too much about how the service charge was broken down their phone numbers could be lost.
The claims were made by Vincent Tynan. With the 34 other plaintiffs in the action he is seeking an injunction restraining Jurys Hotel group plc from continuing the system. The plaintiffs also want the court to order Jurys to pay them the balance of the money they believe is due to them from six years before the legal proceedings began in 1990. This, it is believed, would run into millions of euro.
Mr Tynan said if he worked a 40-hour week the system would mean he would receive approximately £64 from the service charge but a head waiter, who is permanent, would receive £1,000. Mr Justice Paul Butler also heard that the system was in operation for up to 18 years before Mr Tynan began working for Jurys in 1986 as a casual waiter and that it was an arrangement between management and the trade union Siptu (then the ITGWU).
Mr Tynan agreed with Eoin McCullough SC, for the defendants, that they would not interfere with it unless on the say-so of the union and Jurys is a Siptu closed shop. However Mr Tynan said the earnings of the permanent staff were "astronomical, ours were minimal".
The case continues.