The Republic’s only ladder factory has been ordered to pay €6,000 to a former office worker for making her redundant while on maternity leave last year.
Stradbally Ladders Ltd in Co Laois was directed to pay the compensation under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 after the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ruled the firm had breached the statutory maternity protections for employee Joanne Kennedy.
Ms Kennedy, an administrative assistant at the firm since 2020, took maternity leave in January 2024 and wrote to her employer on June 17th that year stating that she wished to take parental leave when the maternity leave expired on July 22nd, the tribunal was told.
On July 8th, the company wrote to her informing her she was being made redundant, effective September 20th, the tribunal was told.
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Dawson O’Toole Solicitors, appearing for Ms Kennedy, submitted that their client had attempted to challenge the decision by way of grievance and appeal to dismissal.
Human resources firm Concordia Consulting, for the employer, submitted that Stradbally Ladders’ founder, the late Isaac Gunnell, retired in 2021 from the business he established in 1983 – “Ireland’s only manufacturer of timber, aluminium and fibreglass ladders”.
The new management was faced with a primarily paper-based office. An external consultant recommended the company make a switch to automated invoicing and a computerised call phone system, which could direct incoming calls. These new systems, installed in 2023, along with a new business model, meant that the role of an administrative assistant was “no longer required”, the tribunal was told.
The company’s representative submitted that by the time it had finalised its decision, Ms Kennedy was on long-term sick leave and was not available for consultation on her redundancy.
The management understood Ms Kennedy’s absence from December 12th, 2023, to the start of her maternity leave the following month was due to pregnancy-related illness, the tribunal was told.
Bosses considered it “inappropriate” to put Ms Kennedy on notice of the redundancy situation at that stage, but believed it “appropriate and timely” to do so when she entered into correspondence with the firm towards the end of her maternity leave the following summer.
Ms Kennedy’s solicitors said their client was unfairly selected for redundancy and did not get an independent hearing or any hearing when she tried to appeal her termination.
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The company had also breached the Maternity Protection Act by denying her a return to work upon the expiry of her protective leave, it was further submitted.
In his decision, adjudication officer Peter O’Brien found that a “genuine redundancy situation” did exist at the firm, but that the Unfair Dismissals Act required consideration of the “reasonableness” of the employer’s conduct.
He noted the company’s position that it chose not to make Ms Kennedy redundant before her maternity leave started. “Admirable as this may be, this did not eliminate the respondent’s legal obligation to allow the complainant return to work after her maternity leave,” he wrote.
The company acted “totally in breach of the Maternity Protection Act” when it dismissed Ms Kennedy at the end of her protective leave and “did not engage in any shape or form” on alternatives to redundancy, Mr O’Brien wrote.
Upholding Ms Kennedy’s complaint under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, Mr O’Brien awarded her €6,000 in compensation on top of a sum of “almost €6,000” given in a redundancy payment.
