LCR22237

FULL RECOMMENDATION

CD/20/213

RECOMMENDATIONNO.LCR22237

SECTION 20(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1969

PARTIES :

CARITAS CONVALESCENT CENTRE

- AND -

64 WORKERS
(REPRESENTED BY INMO,
FORSA
SERVICES INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL UNION)

DIVISION :

Chairman:	Mr Foley
Employer Member:	Ms Connolly
Worker Member:	Ms Treacy

SUBJECT:

1.Redundancy

BACKGROUND:

2.The case before the Court concerns a dispute relating to the issue of 64 Members being made redundant due to the company going into liquidation. The Unions referred the matter to the Labour Court in accordance with Section 20(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969. A Labour Court hearing took place on 27 July, 2020. The following is the Recommendation of the Court:

RECOMMENDATION:

The Court has given very careful consideration to the written and oral submissions of the parties. The Court notes that the employer in this matter did not attend the hearing of the Court which was convened at very short notice. The hearing was attended however by the Trade Unions and representatives of the provisional liquidators and one of the provisional liquidators.

The Court notes that the workers concerned were advised by the employer on 30^thJune 2020 that they would receive a wage ‘top up’ payment in July but that they received no such payment.

The Court notes also that the employer has indicated that redundancy will take place on statutory terms only with no ex-gratia payment.

Finally, the Court notes the Trade Unions’ assertion that of the 64 staff employed in the facility, approximately 23 persons contracted Covid 19 in recent months.

The Court has previously considered matters arising from redundancy of persons employed by ‘Section 39’ agencies and has, on a number of occasions, recommended that staff being made redundant should receive ex-gratia payments equivalent to that paid to public servants in similar situations.

The Court recognises that this matter is complicated by the fact of the employer likely being placed in liquidation almost immediately. In those circumstances, the Court recommends that the parties to this dispute should accept that the reasonable response to the Union side claim is that

•Redundancy terms paid to staff being made redundant should be calculated on the basis of the formula applied to public service workers
•Staff with less than two years’ service should receive fair and reasonable termination payments
•The ‘top up’ payment for July 2020 promised on 30^thJune 2020 by the employer to the workers should be made to the staff concerned.

The Court recommends that the Respondent to the within claims should engage with relevant stakeholders [including the landlord and shareholder – the Sisters of Charity; and the 70% funder of staff costs of the business – the HSE] in an effort to secure the means to implement the terms identified as reasonable in the circumstances and which are set out above.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court

	Kevin Foley
TH	______________________
30 July 2020	Chairman

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Therese Hickey, Court Secretary.