Labour Court recommends enhanced redundancy terms at ACC Bank

In 2014, the Labour Court recommended enhanced redundancy terms for 180 employees facing compulsory job losses at ACC Bank. The recommendation was dated 24 February 2014. Unite and SIPTU sought eight weeks’ pay per year of service, including statutory payments, capped at three years’ pay. ACC Bank said its offer was fair and a larger package would make its future more difficult. The Court recommended 5.5 weeks’ pay per year of service, inclusive of statutory terms, with a 104-week cap on ex-gratia payments only. The cap excludes statutory redundancy payments and pay in lieu of notice. It did not recommend early-retirement arrangements beyond the bank’s offer. The Court said the proposed redundancies were compulsory and the affected employees appeared to have shorter service profiles than workers in comparable cases, making enhanced terms exceptional to these circumstances.