Labour Court recommends voluntary redundancies first at J. Donohoe

The Labour Court recommended that J. Donohoe (Enniscorthy) first seek voluntary redundancies across the company and offer four weeks’ pay per year of service, inclusive of statutory terms. The recommendation was signed on 9 April 2009. If there were not enough volunteers, the company could select redundancies on a last-in, first-out basis within established occupational designations. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union had argued for wider short-time working or an enhanced voluntary redundancy package, and objected that six selected employees had longer service than others. The company said it had selected employees fairly using last-in, first-out within defined jobs and functions. The Court said its recommendation was specific to the circumstances and was not intended to have precedent value.