Labour Court recommends €30,000 for Teagasc worker over irregular employment arrangement

The Labour Court recommended that Teagasc pay a worker €30,000 over the long-running irregularity in his employment arrangements. The recommendation was signed on 4 December 2015. The worker, represented by the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians, said he should have been appointed as a craftsperson after qualifying as a carpenter in 2006 and had performed that role since then. Teagasc said it had employed him under a local casual arrangement until regularising his position as a maintenance craftsperson from 1 January 2015. The Court found he had performed craftsperson duties from 2006 to 2015 under an unsanctioned local arrangement that did not conform with Teagasc’s national arrangements. It recommended that he accept regularisation from 1 January 2015 and that Teagasc pay €30,000 in full and final settlement of claims including pay and tool allowance. The Court also recommended that part of the sum could be assigned to a pension buy-back arrangement.