Labour Court recommends enhanced redundancy terms for O’Rourke workers

The Labour Court recommended that workers employed by Kevin O'Rourke Trading As Laurence K O'Rourke receive three weeks’ pay per year of service on top of statutory redundancy entitlements. The recommendation was signed on 6 July 2010. The workers, represented by the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union, faced redundancy when the branch manager was due to retire on 31 July 2010. The union sought enhanced terms, while the employer said he had no access to funds for an extra payment and no control over departmental decisions about continuing the public service. The Court noted that the Department of Social and Family Affairs was the business’s sole source of income and that staff might or might not transfer to a new contractor. It recommended that the parties jointly ask the Department whether funding was available for the enhanced payment or to secure employment with the new contractor.