Labour Court rejects William Winters’s appeal over vacancy notices

The Labour Court rejected William Winters’s appeal over Wicklow County Council’s failure to tell him about vacancies advertised on behalf of Irish Water. The Court’s determination was dated 18 May 2016 and left the Adjudication Officer’s decision in place. Winters, an engineer employed by the council on fixed-term contracts, said he should have been told about vacancies advertised on 4 March 2014. The council accepted it had not brought the advertisement to his attention, but argued the positions were for Irish Water, a third party. The Court held that the notification duty covers vacancies that could help a fixed-term worker obtain permanent employment in the employer’s undertaking. It found the Irish Water vacancies fell outside that scope, so the appeal failed. His separate training complaint was not part of the appeal.