The Labour Court upheld a decision that Alison Moore could not bring a claim under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003 because she was a permanent employee, not a fixed-term employee. The Court signed its determination on 12 November 2020. It found it had no jurisdiction to hear the claim, so the merits were not decided.
Moore appealed after an adjudication officer found she lacked standing under the Act. She said Marks And Spencer Ireland Limited had treated her less favourably by excluding her from a voluntary severance scheme for its Mary Street store. After transferring to Omni Park in 2017, she said she was on a week-to-week fixed-term contract.
The company argued that Moore remained a permanent employee and was ineligible because Omni Park was outside the stores covered by the scheme. The Court found her permanent contract had continued after the transfer, along with her accrued pay, leave and pension benefits. It did not consider her separate argument that she should have been included in the scheme as a permanent employee, because that issue fell outside the scope of the Act.