Labour Court allows Mark Smith’s redundancy appeal

The Labour Court found Mark Smith’s redundancy claim well founded and set aside the earlier decision. It ruled that Smith was entitled to a statutory redundancy payment for his service with Thornton Construction from 6 November 2006 to 30 July 2021, using gross weekly pay of €735 to calculate it. The determination was signed on 5 April 2023. Smith said his employment ended when the company closed and he expected his service to carry over to a new employer. Thornton Construction said it had arranged another job for him because it could not afford redundancy pay. The Court found that no written agreement transferred Smith’s service to the new employer, as required for that service to count as continuous. It concluded that his employment had ended by reason of redundancy.