Labour Court recommends enhanced redundancy terms at Joseph Murphy Structural Engineers

The Labour Court recommended that Joseph Murphy Structural Engineers Ltd pay four workers two weeks’ pay per year of service, in addition to amounts already paid, to settle a union claim for enhanced redundancy terms. The recommendation, dated 15 December 2000, followed a dispute referred by the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union under section 20(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969. The union sought five weeks’ pay per year of service on top of statutory redundancy. The company said it had kept the workers on longer than needed and could not afford the claim. The Court considered the company’s financial difficulties, the workers’ service and the nature of the company’s business. The union agreed to be bound by the recommendation.