Labour Court upholds decision against Aoife McCormack over service requirement

The Labour Court affirmed the decision that Aoife McCormack could not bring her unfair dismissal complaint because she had less than one year’s continuous service. The appeal failed, and the merits of the complaint were not decided. McCormack said she had begun work for Castle Dargan Resort Limited on 11 November 2017, before the resort’s stated start date of 28 November. She said she had completed about 32 hours of sales and marketing work at a manager’s request before starting on site. The resort said her employment began on 28 November, when she started on site and its payroll records began. The Court accepted that she had carried out tasks at the manager’s request, but found no basis to conclude that an employment contract began before 28 November. It concluded she lacked the service required under the Unfair Dismissal Acts and affirmed the Adjudication Officer’s decision. The determination was signed on 28 June 2022.