Search Results for 'Industrial relations'

Allegations of unfair dismissal against the social services centre in Castlebar have emerged following RTÉ’s Prime Time programme which aired on Tuesday night and which investigated complaints against FÁS made by the chairman of Castlebar Social Services.

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.

The workers at ICT Eurotel in Belmullet yesterday were meeting with their employers as they tried to thrash out a fair redundancy deal for themselves. The company, which does not recognise trade unions, refused the workers’ request for a union representative to help them work out the terms of their redundancy and asked instead for six workers to be sent forward to hammer out the deal.