A group of workers who lost their jobs when construction company Roadbridge went into receivership have secured increased redundancy pay.
The workers had been temporarily transferred to the UK and when Roadbridge went into receivership last year, they received their redundancy entitlements under UK legislation which amounted to a major shortfall compared to Irish entitlements.
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.
One worker had a total service of 29 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.
SIPTU said that a claim for a minimum notice period for the workers was also successful which resulted in them being awarded up to eight weeks in additional wages.
"The members involved have had their cases vindicated in so far as they will receive a top-up on their UK redundancy entitlements to equal what they would have received under Irish legislation," said SIPTU Sector Organiser, John Regan.
"This is the first time a redundancy payment has been successfully challenged in this way," he added.
