The Labour Court dismissed Paul Kiernan’s appeal over his complaint that the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection treated him less favourably as a fixed-term employee. The determination was issued on 4 April 2019.
Kiernan said each fixed-term contract required a six-month probation period, compared with one 12-month period for a comparable permanent civil servant. He also said he was denied access to the Civil Service Disciplinary Code when performance issues arose. The Department argued he had no valid permanent civil service comparator.
The Court found that the government departments were associated employers but that Kiernan had not identified a valid comparator. It found insufficient evidence to establish similar work among the proposed civil service roles or the duties and conditions of Garda civilian drivers. The Court affirmed the adjudication officer’s not-well-founded decision.