The High Court has refused An Post’s appeal against a Labour Court determination that two former fixed-term workers were treated less favourably by being excluded from a voluntary severance scheme available to permanent employees.
Mr Justice Hedigan delivered judgment on 26 August 2013 in an appeal on a point of law under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003. He said the High Court’s role was limited: it could intervene where the Labour Court made an identifiable error of law or an unsustainable finding of fact.
An Post argued that the severance scheme was designed to encourage permanent staff, who had security of tenure, to leave voluntarily. The two respondents’ contracts had fixed end dates, so An Post said there was no need to incentivise their departure. It also argued that the scheme pursued the legitimate objective of reducing staffing levels without compulsory redundancies.
The respondents said they would have qualified for the scheme if they had been permanent employees. The Labour Court had found that their exclusion was less favourable treatment and was not objectively justified. It had affirmed a Rights Commissioner decision awarding them the terms of the scheme.
The High Court accepted that An Post’s aim of reducing staff numbers voluntarily was legitimate. It then considered whether excluding the fixed-term workers was appropriate and necessary to achieve that aim. The judge said the scheme could have been designed to include fixed-term workers while limiting payment to the remaining period of their contracts. An Post had not raised an argument against that alternative, which the judge described as sensible and fair.
He concluded that excluding the respondents went beyond what was necessary to meet An Post’s objective. Although the Labour Court had given narrower reasons, the High Court found no error in the result it reached and refused An Post’s appeal.
The judgment did not set out the final amounts payable under the scheme or make a separate order specifying payments. It upheld the Labour Court determination on the appeal before it.