Search Results for 'Employment compensation'

Civil servants in Mayo could enjoy two years off work with a €20,000 lump sum in their pocket if the Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council gets his way.

Question

What a week it’s been.

Many strands of Irish businesses wasted little time this week in hitting out at the new national wage agreement struck early on Wednesday morning, saying that the propsoed wage increases could represent the final nail in the coffin for many small to medium businesses.

What a week it’s been.

Sinn Féin County Councillor Gerry Murray has condemned the introduction of the pension levy which he claims puts the burden of Ireland’s public finances on low and medium income public workers and lets the oil and gas companies off the hook once again. He described the Government’s spin doctors as shameful in their “pathetic attempt to portray and blame public sector workers as being exclusively responsible for the current economic downturn”. Cllr Murray challenged Fianna Fáil on the fairness of the public service pension levy noting that the “sliding scale in the levy discriminates against the lower paid while the oil and gas multi-nationals go untouched.”

Sinn Féin local election candidate for the Ballyragget electoral area, Ray Quinlan has said the upcoming budget must rectify and reverse the recent Fianna Fáil and Green Party attack on children with special educational needs.

Westport deputy Michael Ring spoke in the Dáil last week, seeking clarification about the number of people engaged in commercial activity, including the operation of a farm, who had applied for pension entitlements.

In these difficult economic times, many businesses are looking to reduce their wage bill in order to ensure survival. Ultimately, this may mean that redundancies will be required, but there are other options. From a legal, commercial, and arguably moral standpoint, redundancy should always be the last resort. The law requires an employer to consider alternatives to redundancy, while commercially, most employers will want to retain good staff in anticipation of the upturn, and avoid the morale shattering effect of letting people go. So what are the options, and what legal challenges do they present?

Last week I looked at wage cuts. This week I’ll tackle the issue of redundancy.