Labour Court recommends joint pay review for Kerry Ingredients laboratory staff

The Labour Court recommended a joint review of pay for laboratory staff at Kerry Ingredients, including consideration of changes to their duties and comparison with similar laboratory jobs. The recommendation was signed on 25 September 2003. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union sought a review for about 30 staff, saying the company had committed to one and that their rates lagged behind those at other companies. Kerry Ingredients argued that the staff had received substantial increases, including a 20.5% increase in 2000, and that another increase was unwarranted. The Court said the company had agreed to a review and that the union could reasonably have expected it to be conducted jointly. It recommended that the parties agree the review’s terms, including how duties had changed and how the staff’s duties and pay compared with laboratory personnel in similar employments.