The Labour Court allowed an appeal by four Cork County Council workers and ordered the council to pay them Grade V salaries for the period from 10 July 2002 to 28 October 2004. Its determination was dated 23 August 2005.
IMPACT brought the appeal on behalf of P.J. Kenny, Hilary Neville, Rose Quinlan and Mary Murphy. The council had conceded claims that the workers should have been offered permanent contracts and placed on a higher salary scale. The Court considered whether their pay was lower than that of permanent employees doing similar work.
The council said the higher-paid Grade V posts had been created for permanent employees in anticipation of changes to revenue collection. The Court found that the comparators’ higher pay was due to their permanent status and that the council had not shown a continuing reason for the pay difference beyond the workers’ fixed-term status. It found the complaint well founded. The salary order covers the period before the workers became permanent full-time employees by agreement; the Court could not make an order under the Act for later terms and conditions.