The Labour Court affirmed the rejection of Mary Hanrahan’s fixed-term-work complaint against Dunlaoghaire Rathdown Co Council. Its determination was signed on 2 June 2017.
Hanrahan appealed after an Adjudication Officer decided her complaint could not succeed because she was not a fixed-term employee under the Protection of Employees (Fixed Term Work) Act 2003. She said she understood her temporary appointment as a Senior Staff Officer to be a fixed-term contract and had not expected to return to her Staff Officer grade. The council said she remained a permanent employee on an indefinite-duration contract throughout.
The Court found Hanrahan had been employed in only one capacity at a time and remained a permanent employee. It concluded that she lacked standing to maintain the appeal. The complaint was found not well founded, the appeal failed and the Adjudication Officer’s decision was affirmed; the merits were not decided.