The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ordered Metropolitan Films International Limited to pay stagehand Paul Arkins €25,000 for penalising him after he sought permanent employment, and €5,000 for breaches involving successive fixed-term contracts. The decision was dated 15 December 2023.
Arkins had worked on the company’s film and television productions since 2000, with breaks between productions. The WRC found his employment was continuous and that he had acquired a contract of indefinite duration, meaning his employment had no fixed end date. It also found the production subsidiaries used for individual films did not replace Metropolitan Films International Limited as his employer.
When Arkins was not called back as production resumed in 2019, the WRC found he had been penalised in breach of the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act. It also found there was no legitimate reason for employing him on successive specified-purpose contracts and that the company had not given him a written statement of those reasons. The €25,000 award related to the dismissal; the €5,000 covered the other two breaches. The WRC said the awards were not subject to tax, PRSI or USC deductions.