The Labour Court allowed Ms Siobhan O' Donoughue’s appeal and ruled that her contract with Rice College was indefinite for 16 hours and 40 minutes a week from 1 September 2008. The determination was dated 10 December 2012.
O' Donoughue argued that Rice College had wrongly limited her indefinite contract to 5 hours and 40 minutes a week, although her earlier contract covered 16 hours and 40 minutes. The college said the remaining 11 hours covered a teacher on an annually approved job-sharing arrangement.
The Court found that her contract could not be divided into separate contracts with different employment status, and that its renewal in September 2008 was not objectively justified. It deemed the contract indefinite for the full 16 hours and 40 minutes and set aside the Rights Commissioner’s decision. The Court made no further determination on compensation for the intervening period.