Labour Court cuts compensation to €570 after Bluebird Care appeal

The Labour Court reduced compensation for Ms Aisling Kehoe from €874 to €570 after Vurzol Dublin West Limited Bluebird Care T/A Bluebird Care Meath appealed. The Court varied the Adjudication Officer’s decision on 4 February 2021. The complaint concerned the employer’s failure to give Ms Kehoe a written contract when she returned to work as a social care worker in March 2018. The failure was undisputed and had since been rectified. Ms Kehoe said the employer had not complied with the Act; the employer said she had been re-engaged by verbal agreement and later received a formal contract. The Adjudication Officer had awarded four weeks’ wages, calculated at €11.50 an hour for 19 hours a week. The Labour Court instead based compensation on two weeks’ pay at €15 an hour for 19 hours a week, setting the amount at €570.