Labour Court recommends enhanced redundancy terms for Vita Cortex workers

The Labour Court recommended four weeks’ pay per year of service, inclusive of statutory redundancy, for Vita Cortex workers with more than two years’ service after the company’s Navan plant closed. For two employees with shorter service, it recommended ex gratia payments of €1,800 and €1,200. The recommendation was signed on 30 May 2008. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union sought four weeks’ pay per year, saying workers had long service and the company could afford the claim. Vita Cortex said it could not sustain the additional cost and had offered to move production to Dublin, with relocation payments. The Court cited the compulsory nature of the redundancies arising from the closure when making its recommendation.