Stable staff are the backbone of the horse racing industry The recent case of stable lad Yasir Ali has reignited the debate about how the horse racing industry in Ireland treats its employees. Back in September 2019 Yasir Ali joined the team at Tony Mullins’ Watree Stud near Gowran in Co. Kilkenny. He then spent over two years working as a stable hand for Mullins during a period of unprecedented success for the yard. This was the time when Princess Zoe ran up a sequence of high profile victories culminating in her Group One success in the Prix Du Cadron at Longchamp in October 2020. I would imagine Watree Stud was an exciting place to work during that period, but Ali was not happy with his lot and in particular the fact that after two years working in the job he still hadn’t received a work permit. Ali finally took it upon himself to contact the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in an effort to get his work permit. This in turn triggered an inspection of Watree Stud by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). As the WRC looked deeper into Ali’s working arrangements it transpired that he had been working 13 out of every 14 days and hadn’t received any holidays in the more than two years he had worked in the yard. His average working day was 9 to 10 hours during the week and 7 to 8 hours a day at weekends. Around 56 hours minimum each week. In the context of those working with horses those hours don’t actually seem too excessive. In 2017 the WRC found that some staff working in Ballydoyle were on occasions working up to 19 hours a day without compensatory rest periods and other staff there had worked 28 days straight without a day off. The big difference, I presume, between the case of Yasir Ali and staff working in Ballydoyle is the amount of money he was being paid. Ali received a flat rate of €350 each week on top of his shared lodgings in accommodation adjacent to the stableyard, but received no additional payments for Sundays or Bank Holidays. For an average week’s work Ali’s pay was equivalent to €6.25 an hour. At that time, when he worked for Tony Mullins, the statutory minimum wage in Ireland was in excess of €10 an hour. While Ali contends that he only received a flat wage each week, irrespective of the number of hours worked, under Industry rules he would have been entitled to also receive additional payments in connection with the Stable Employees Bonus Scheme. Shortly after the initial visit by the WRC to Tony Mullins’ stables, Yasir Ali was sacked without notice. After a second visit to the stables the WRC held a hearing into the matter. Mullins was notified in advance of the hearing, but messaged the WRC the day before it took place to say that he would be unable to attend. In addition, the trainer was not represented at that hearing. In the trainer’s absence the WRC reached a judgement in favour of Ali and awarded the former employee a sum of over €86,000 made up of back pay and compensation in respect of a number of breaches of Employment legislation. This award also included an amount of €14,280 for unfair dismissal. The trainer was notified of this judgement against him and under legislation had 42 days to lodge an appeal to the Labour Court, but he missed that date. Seven days after that time had elapsed an appeal was lodged on the trainer’s behalf against the decision and it was claimed that the late lodgement was due to a number of extenuating circumstances. The Labour Court listened to submissions from Tony Mullins and his legal representatives regarding the extenuating circumstances that had delayed his appeal application, but were not swayed. This appeal was therefore rejected by the Labour Court and the original award in favour of Ali stands. Ultimately, this is a somewhat one-sided judgement against the trainer, as his side of the story was never heard, however he appears to have no one to blame for this, but himself, having missed two opportunities to give his version of events. Considering that the sport is highly regulated you would think there should be mechanisms in place to spot issues like this at a much earlier stage and resolve them before the WRC or Labour Court has to get involved. Stable Employment and Welfare Charter The Irish Horseracing Industry has a Staff Employment and Welfare Charter in place since 2009. This Charter has been signed by all relevant stakeholders including the Irish Stablestaff Association and the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association. This charter is supposed to protect employees like Yasir Ali. Yet he worked in the industry for over two years without anyone in authority being aware of his issues. I wonder if anyone was even aware of his existence? There appears to be no mention in the WRC hearing of Ali ever receiving any additional payments from the Stable Employees Bonus Scheme. Stable Employees Bonus Scheme “The Stable Employees Bonus Scheme came into effect on 1st May 2000 and is paid out quarterly to Trainers. The Scheme is financed by a 3% deduction from all prizemoney and that money is distributed to all registered employees who are in employment at the end of the relevant quarter.” During the summer of 2020, when Ali was employed by Tony Mullins, Princess Zoe alone won €275,000 in prizemoney. 3% of this equates to €8,250 that was due to have been divided between the stable staff in the yard. You would have thought Ali might have mentioned his share to the WRC, as it would have been a significant sum in comparison to his weekly wages. Between September 2023 and the end of 2024 a total of 56 trainers had sanctions imposed on them by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board for breaches of Rule 298 which relates specifically to the Stable Employees Bonus Scheme. So, more than 20 years after the introduction of this scheme almost 10% of licensed trainers are still not adhering to the rules pertaining to the Stable Employees Bonus Scheme. Maybe it is time for the industry stakeholders to refresh themselves with the six key principles of their own Stable Staff Welfare Charter, in particular point 4 relating to Pay and the Stable Employees Bonus Scheme which states: “Employees in the industry should enjoy the highest level of sustainable wages but in no circumstances should pay levels fall below the directives on minimum wages. Each relevant employer will ensure that the conditions of the Stable Employees Bonus Scheme are complied with and confirmed through audits.” The majority of stable hands are earning on or close to the minimum wage of €13.50 an hour and the Stable Employees Bonus Scheme is a crucial supplement to bridge the gap between minimum wage and the Living Wage of €14.75. The Living Wage is defined as “a wage which makes possible a minimum acceptable standard of living.” in a multi-billion euro industry like horse racing this is the very least you would expect for all of its workforce.
