Labour Court recommends €1,000 transfer payment at Pierce Engineering

The Labour Court recommended a minimum €1,000 payment for employees transferring with Pierce Engineering Limited, up from the company’s proposed €700. It also said the parties should consult legal advisers on protecting agreed redundancy terms if the company became insolvent. The recommendation, dated 29 October 2002, followed a dispute with the Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union and the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union over relocation, transfer payments and possible future redundancies. Pierce Engineering said relocation was needed for the company’s future viability and offered a legally binding safeguard for agreed redundancy terms for five years. The Court said advance redundancy payments were unprecedented when redundancies were neither contemplated nor imminent.