The Workplace Relations Commission found that Metropolitan Films International Limited penalised Eddie Arkins Jnr by dismissing him after he sought permanent employment, and ordered the company to pay him €25,000 compensation. It also awarded him €5,000 for breaches involving successive fixed-term contracts and a failure to provide written reasons.
The decision was dated 15 December 2023. Arkins, a carpenter and standby stagehand, said he had worked on the group’s productions for years, with layoffs between films, and was not recalled for Valhalla after supporting efforts by his union, the Irish Film Workers’ Association, to secure workers’ rights. The company argued he had been employed by separate production companies and that his complaint was late.
The adjudicator found that Arkins was continuously employed by the film group, that his complaint was within the time limit and that he had acquired a contract of indefinite duration, meaning an ongoing contract without a fixed end date. She found there was no legitimate objective for repeatedly employing him on fixed-term contracts and that the company had not provided written reasons. The WRC found the complaints well founded.