The Labour Court rejected Mary Mc Sweeney’s appeal over her fixed-term contracts with Carlow County Council, upholding the Rights Commissioner’s decision. The determination was signed on 24 February 2012.
The Court found that a break over Christmas 2005 did not interrupt her service, but that her employment ended in December 2006 and restarted in February 2007, breaking continuity. It also found objective grounds for the Council’s final three-year contract, which covered a vacancy created by staff secondments.
Mc Sweeney argued that her contracts counted as continuous service and entitled her to a contract of indefinite duration. The Council said the break in service meant she had not qualified.
The Court rejected her 2010 penalisation complaint, finding that the contract ended at its fixed expiry and was justified by the temporary vacancy. It did not consider her separate complaint about the 2005 termination because it was referred outside the statutory time limit; the merits were not decided.