The Labour Court rejected appeals by St Patrick’s College and the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union over equal-pay claims by 31 female employees. It found that catering assistants, housekeepers and cleaners should receive the General Operative rate, while the caretaker’s higher rate was personal to him and had grounds other than sex. The determination was dated 10 September 1998.
The claims concerned work at the college in Drumcondra. The Equality Officer had found for nine claimants and against 22, and both sides appealed. After considering job descriptions and visiting the site, the Court found the work of the claimant groups was of equal value to that of the maintenance man. It upheld the Equality Officer’s recommendation on retrospection.