The Labour Court recommended that Fás pay Phyllis Gaffney Janssen’s travel and subsistence claims, investigate whether she was owed payment for 1996 annual leave, and settle her outstanding workplace issues on the terms of her early retirement package. The recommendation was dated 20 November 2000.
Janssen, a Placement Services Officer in Fás’s North East Region, had about 23 years’ service and retired in August 1997 under an ill-health early retirement package. She said two unpaid suspensions were not properly explained, her complaints to management went unanswered, and she lost leave, insurance cover and travel payments. Fás said the suspensions followed performance and absence issues, she was not entitled to leave while absent, and insurance cover lapsed when contributions stopped.
The Court declined to revisit the suspensions, saying they had been handled under Fás’s disciplinary procedures and were not referred for outside investigation at the time. It regretted that the insurance scheme’s rules had not been explained to Janssen and considered referral of that issue to the Insurance Ombudsman the most appropriate route. Fás had agreed at the hearing to investigate the outstanding annual leave payment; the Court recommended that Janssen accept the early retirement terms in full and final settlement.