Labour Court recommends enhanced redundancy terms at Nestle Ireland

The Labour Court recommended that Nestle (Ireland) Limited offer five weeks’ pay per year of service to workers made redundant, inclusive of statutory payments. It also recommended protections for workers losing earnings after a move to flat hours. The recommendation, dated 21 October 1996, followed a dispute with the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union, Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union, and Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union. The unions sought eight weeks’ pay per year of service and 130 weeks’ compensation for lost overtime; the company offered four weeks and compensation equal to 1.5 times annual lost overtime earnings. The Court recommended continuing the existing 78-week protection for earnings lost after a change to flat hours, with an additional 12 months of protection where the loss exceeded £3,000. It also recommended honouring the company’s commitment to protect the former pay of certain employees who kept the same starting or finishing times.