Labour Court recommends talks on worker’s return after Paris secondment

The Labour Court recommended that Iarnrod Eireann/Irish Rail begin discussions in January 2008 on reintegrating a worker into a post commensurate with his current position in the CIE Group. The recommendation was dated 9 November 2006, following his secondment to the International Union of Railways in Paris, which had been extended to June 2008. The worker said the company had not arranged comparable work for his return or kept his salary in line with executive reviews. Iarnrod Eireann/Irish Rail said it had honoured its secondment commitments and that his salary had kept pace with senior colleagues. The Court found that the company had honoured the commitments in its 14 May 2001 secondment letter and rejected the worker’s claim for benchmarking increases. It considered Head of Department the appropriate grade, rather than Deputy Managing Director. The Court recommended discussions about a return to a role matching his current position within the CIE Group, in line with the secondment terms.