The Labour Court found University College Cork treated Dr. Naomi Bushin less favourably than comparable permanent employees and varied her redundancy terms. The determination was dated 20 July 2011. It directed UCC to pay four weeks’ pay per year of service, plus statutory redundancy entitlement, replacing the Rights Commissioner’s direction of six weeks’ pay per year inclusive of statutory redundancy.
Bushin worked full-time as a researcher on an EU-funded project. Her fixed-term contract ended on 30 September 2009, when she was made redundant. She complained that she received only statutory redundancy, while comparable permanent employees in the higher education sector received enhanced terms. The union, IFUT, sought those terms for her.
The Court accepted the permanent employees as valid comparators and found Bushin had been treated less favourably. It rejected UCC’s justification because its reasons for the difference rested on her fixed-term status. The Court directed the enhanced payment after concluding that fixed-term status alone did not justify the difference in treatment.