Labour Court sets sick pay and shorter hours at Sterile Technologies

The Labour Court determined that Sterile Technologies Ireland Ltd introduce a formal sick pay scheme retrospectively from 1 September 2004 and reduce shift workers’ weekly hours by one hour. It signed the determination on 27 September 2005. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union (SIPTU) had asked the Court to address outstanding parts of an earlier recommendation. The employer objected that the union had missed the timeframe for seeking a determination. The Court found the timeframes were indicative rather than mandatory and that the employer had suffered no prejudice from the delay. The Court made no determination on the health and safety complaint, saying those matters had been addressed satisfactorily. The determination was to be implemented within one month unless otherwise specified.