Labour Court recommends job guarantees and compensation talks in Semperit dispute

The Labour Court recommended written guarantees for telesales staff and compensation talks for a supervisor after Semperit Sales Limited planned to move sales and marketing work from Dublin to London. It did not recommend the union’s claim for the marketing co-ordinator. The Court signed its recommendation on 4 November 1996. The company offered a redundancy package of four weeks’ pay per year of service, plus statutory entitlement. It estimated the package would cost £120,000. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union sought to retain two jobs and first refusal for two staff if telesales work returned to Ireland. The Court recommended written guarantees of first refusal if the jobs were relocated in Ireland in future. It also found that a 1993 letter had given the supervisor a reasonable expectation of job security and recommended that the parties negotiate an appropriate compensation solution.