The Workplace Relations Commission found Skerries Harps Gaa Club unfairly dismissed games coach Johnny Beggs and awarded him €26,083. The decision, dated 26 October 2022, said the Club’s redundancy selection process was rigid, lacked meaningful consultation and failed to consider redeployment.
The Club said financial pressure and a reduced need for the coaching role led to the redundancy. Beggs argued that the selection process was unfair and that his earlier service should count in calculating his redundancy payment. He said he began working for the Club in 2013 and became a games coach in 2017; the Club maintained his employment began in 2017, after a community employment scheme.
The adjudicator found that a genuine redundancy situation existed, but the Club had not adequately consulted Beggs or meaningfully considered alternatives, including bar or caretaking work. Beggs remained unemployed and actively sought work. The €26,083 compensation was calculated as 52 weeks at a gross weekly wage of €501.60, in addition to redundancy already paid. His separate complaint about the redundancy calculation was not well founded because the earlier scheme period was not insurable employment.