The Labour Court has recommended that 25 workers at the Lagan Brick plant should be paid an improved redundancy package.
The workers at the plant in Kingscourt, Co Cavan were involved in a seven month dispute with the company.
This follows a Labour Court hearing last week which the company declined to attend. Last December, the company decided to close the Kingscourt plant.
Since then, the 25 SIPTU have been protesting outside the plant over severance pay terms and future employment opportunities.
Labour Court Deputy Chairman Brendan Hayes said it was "regrettable" that Lagan Brick had not attended the hearing, as the Court would have benefited from the employer's perspective on the issues between the parties.
He recommended that the workers should be paid their statutory entitlements plus an additional one week per year of service.
He said the extra payment should be capped at €700 per week for day workers, €800 for craft workers, and €1,000 for night workers.
The statutory portion of the award - two weeks per year of service capped at €600 per week - should be paid immediately.
The ex gratia extra week should be paid in two portions.
The first part should be paid immediately with their statutory entitlements.
The second half should be paid either when 50% of the company's remaining stock of bricks have been removed without disruption, or when ownership of the company changes hands, or within six weeks of the first payment.
The Labour Court also recommended that the company should undertake - without obligation - to favourably consider the workers concerned for future employment if and when the plant recommences production.
The court said the recommendation was made on the basis of submissions made and in the context of an earlier expert financial report on the company.
That report found that the plant was not sustainable.
SIPTU official John Regan said the union had written to the company seeking a meeting to discuss implementation of the Labour Court recommendation.
However, the recommendation is not binding on the company and so far the union has received no response.
In a statement this afternoon, management at Lagan Brick said they would not be commenting on the Labour Court recommendation.
