FULL RECOMMENDATION
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 1990 SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : UNILEVER IRELAND (REPRESENTED BY IRISH BUSINESS AND EMPLOYERS' CONFEDERATION) - AND - SERVICES INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL UNION DIVISION : Chairman: Mr Duffy Employer Member: Ms Cryan Worker Member: Ms Ni Mhurchu |
1. Redundancy payments for employees currently at risk or whose roles are under review.
BACKGROUND:
2. This dispute concerns a claim by the Union, for its members currently at risk of redundancy, to be paid at the agreed and longstanding rates. This dispute could not be resolved at local level and was the subject of a Conciliation Conference under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission. As agreement was not reached, the dispute was referred to the Labour Court on the 19thMarch 2013, in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990.
A Labour Court hearing took place on the 28thJune 2013.
UNION’S ARGUMENTS:
3. 1. The Company announced a revised redundancy package of 4 weeks’ pay of service inclusive of statutory payments. The Union met with Management and advised them that there was an agreement going back a number of years for an 8 week per year of service redundancy package inclusive of statutory payments.
2. Proposals which emerged from a conciliation conference at the Labour Relations Commission and a subsequently enhanced offer made at local level were rejected by the members
3. The Union members have supported the numerous reorganisations throughout the years and they contend that this should be reflected in the severance package on offer by the Company.
EMPLOYER'S ARGUMENTS:
4. 1. The agreement for an 8 week redundancy package was a specific package agreed in the Labour Relations Commission for a manufacturing facility with 31 employees which ceased trading.
2. In the past when providing severance packages the company would have been able to offset some of the costs with the 60% rebate on statutory which is no longer available.
3. In Ireland the Company’s cost base is too high and if they do not address this issue they will not have the funds to invest to survive in the current challenging economic and competitive environment. The redundancy package on offer by the Company is in line with those that apply in the Irish market.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Court accepts that the redundancy terms agreed in 2006 were in respect of a particular set of redundancies at that time and that the Company had not committed to maintaining those terms in respect to all future redundancies.
In relation to the redundancies now in contemplation the Court is of the view that the final modified proposals to the terms put forward at conciliation are generally reasonable. However the Court recommends that they should be modified so as to provided that the proposed additional payment of €600 per year of service be increased to €1,000 per year of service.
With this modification the Court recommends that the proposals of 3rdFebruary 2013, and the subsequent addendum, should be accepted.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Kevin Duffy
CR______________________
18th July, 2013.Chairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Ciaran Roche, Court Secretary.