The Workplace Relations Commission awarded Catherine Connolly €12,000 after finding she was unfairly dismissed by Edmundson Electric (Ireland) Limited t/a Ewl Ltd. The decision was dated 24 March 2023.
Connolly challenged her redundancy after returning from maternity leave, arguing that she was unfairly selected and that alternatives, including job sharing, were not genuinely considered. The employer said reduced sales meant fewer staff were needed and that Connolly did not qualify for discretionary profit share because her employment ended before the payment date.
The adjudicator found there was no skills matrix and little consideration of staff departures, recruitment or alternatives to redundancy. The €12,000 was compensation for part of Connolly’s losses, excluding her redundancy payment.
Her separate complaint that the profit-share decision discriminated on gender and family-status grounds was not well founded. The WRC said she had not established a prima facie case, meaning the evidence did not first establish facts that could support discrimination.