LCR22273

1. Redundancy Payment Due To Liquidation

BACKGROUND:

2. This dispute concerns the Worker's claim to redundancy payment subsequent to the liquidation of the Employer. The Unions on behalf of the workers referred this case to the Labour Court on 25 September 2020 in accordance with Section 20(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969, and agreed to be bound by the Court’s Recommendation. A Labour Court hearing in a virtual setting took place on 14 October 2020.

RECOMMENDATION :

On a number of occasions, where redundancies have arisen in ‘Section 39’ agencies, the Court has recommended that the staff concerned should receive ex gratia payments equivalent to those paid to public servants in similar situations.

As the Employer chose not to attend in the instant case, no argument was put forward to suggest that the Court should deviate from this approach.

The situation in this case is complicated by the fact that Liquidators have been appointed in respect of the Employer’s business. However, the Court remains of the view that the fair and correct response to the claim is for the application of redundancy terms based on the formula applied to public service workers. The Court recommends this accordingly.

With regard to staff with less than two years’ service, the Court recommends that they should receive fair and reasonable termination payments.

The Court further recommends that the Respondent to this claim should engage with the Sisters of Charity, (who are the landlord and shareholder), and with the HSE, ( who are the substantial funder of staff costs), with a view to securing the means to implement the terms of this Recommendation.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Tom Geraghty
DC	______________________
15 October 2020	Deputy Chairman