Construction workers win WRC case for increased redundancy pay

by HRHQ Editorial Team

Workers temporarily transferred to the UK by the construction company, Roadbridge, who lost their jobs when the business went into receivership last year, have won a significant increase in their redundancy payments at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

SIPTU successfully argued before the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) that under the Redundancy Payment Act the workers should have received payment under Irish legislation because they had worked in Ireland for longer than in the UK.

SIPTU Workers Rights Centre Sector Organiser, Deirdre Canty, said: “The company had temporarily transferred some of its workers to work abroad. The company went into receivership and these workers were then made redundant without notice on 28^th April 2022. They received their redundancy entitlements under UK legislation. However, this amounted to a major shortfall in the monies due to them had these workers been paid redundancy within this State“.

At the WRC hearing, SIPTU representatives successfully argued under Section 25 of the Redundancy Payment Act, 1967, that as each worker had worked in Ireland for longer than in the UK that they should have received payment under Irish legislation. One worker had a total service of twenty-nine years and three months, of which ten months were spent in the UK. The shortfall between the redundancy payment he received and what he was entitled to in Ireland was more than €20,000.

A claim for a minimum notice period for the workers was also successful. This resulted in them being awarded up to eight weeks in additional wages.