The Labour Court has ruled in favour of a claim by the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) in Trinity College Dublin for additional leave days in compensation for the introduction of new academic structures introduced by the college.

The Court awarded two days’ leave on a once-off basis, in a case taken under Section 26(1) of the 1990 Industrial Relations Act.

The changes were part of the new Trinity Education Project and impacted on time available for research work, on holiday arrangements, and involved significant additional work in ‘bedding down’ the new work arrangements.

IFUT members, as well as others in SIPTU and UNITE, were affected negatively as a consequence of the new academic structure and were party to this claim.

The issue arose initially as academic staff in Trinity do not have designated annual-leave days, but must request time off from their Head of School.

The Labour Court, in making its ruling in favour of IFUT, noted that the college “did not dispute that there was full co-operation with implementation of the new structure and that there were some teething problems to be resolved.”

The changes introduced by TCD amount to an arbitrary change in the terms and conditions of staff. The decision of the Labour Court recognises this, as well as the additional workload and commitment for academic staff and the consequent need for appropriate redress.

ENDS

For further information on this media release please contact:

John Gallagher - John Gallagher Consulting - Tel. 087 9369888

Joan Donegan - General Secretary, IFUT - Tel. 087 1315960