The Labour Court rejected Andrea O’Connor’s appeal over whether her role transferred when Bidvest Noonan (ROI) Ltd’s contract at University Hospital Kerry ended. In a determination dated 11 December 2020, it upheld the Adjudication Officer’s decision that no transfer of undertakings had occurred.
O’Connor argued that she had transferred to a new provider without the protections required by the regulations or had been made redundant. Bidvest Noonan said the workers transferred under the regulations. The Court found that the 14 Health Care Assistants had no management structure or shared working method and were individually assigned to hospital duties, with no scope to organise their work as a group. It concluded that the arrangement was akin to making staff available to the hospital, so no autonomous entity capable of transfer existed.