A minimum notice appeal by a former employee of MMI Stockbrokers, which went into liquidation last March, was upheld by the Employment Appeals Tribunal yesterday.

Mr Joseph McGrath, who received a weekly wage of £576.92, was employed at the Baggot Street-based brokers in Dublin from September 1st, 1997, to February 24th, 1999, the date on which a redundancy notice was served.

Mr McGrath was claiming one week's pay on the basis that he was entitled to a one-week notice period.

The tribunal chairman, Mr Dermot McCarthy SC, deferred his decision on whether Ms Yvonne O'Connor, employed as the compliance officer at MMI and earning £961.54 a week, was entitled to a one or two-week notice of dismissal based on her period of employment.

On the basis of her contract which entitled her to a three-month notice period, Ms O'Connor claimed that this gave her more than two years service with the company and a consequent entitlement to statutory redundancy. It would also give her a two-week entitlement to notice of dismissal.

Mr Michael Leyden, on behalf of the liquidators, Kavanagh Chartered Accountants, said the redundancy entitlement was not in dispute.

Ms O'Connor added that the dismissal notice had occurred after she had finished a term of maternity leave.

Mr McCarthy said he would consider whether she was entitled to one or two weeks pay under her entitlement of notice of dismissal.