Labour Court recommends extra redundancy terms for seven Vitra workers

The Labour Court recommended an ex-gratia redundancy payment of two weeks’ pay per year of service, in addition to statutory terms, for seven workers made compulsorily redundant by Vitra Ireland Limited. The recommendation was signed on 17 January 2011. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union had sought six weeks’ pay per year of service, inclusive of statutory entitlements. Vitra said the construction downturn had damaged its business, that it could not afford enhanced payments and that it normally paid statutory redundancy only. The Court distinguished these workers from others who had chosen to take statutory redundancy while on lay-off, and cited the tradition of additional payments where economic conditions allowed.