Banks told golf club to make staff redundant, tribunal hears

Banks were "micro-managing" a north Dublin golf club which found itself in financial crisis and demanded that it make two staff redundant, an Employment Appeals Tribunal has heard.

A former book-keeper and secretary manager at Donabate Golf Club told the tribunal she was selected for redundancy without any consultation amid its financial crisis and that she was seeking compensation.

Betty O’Connor, who carried out accounting and payroll functions, brought an unfair dismissals case against the club claiming she was unfairly selected for redundancy in 2014 and said she was seeking compensation.

The tribunal previously heard that voluntary redundancy had been offered to four staff members but that no application had been forthcoming. The club had decided the “most suitable” option was to outsource the accounting function previously carried out by Ms O’Connor.

Bar manager Michael Doyle told the tribunal on Monday that after he had heard Ms O'Connor had been told she was to be made redundant, he offered to take redundancy instead of her.

Club president Charlie Donnelly said he did not recall that discussion. Mr Donnelly also said there was no precedent for a "last in, first out" redundancy policy, which Ms O'Connor had suggested be implemented instead.

‘First out’

On a previous occasion when floor staff were let go it was agreed that they would be “first out” as there were other staff with many years’ service. But this did not apply to the office and bar, because the club would have lost capabilities it could not replace.

Ms O’Connor told the resumed hearing on Monday that four members of staff, including herself, another woman and the two barmen, had been called to a meeting with five of the club’s officials on March 21st last year.

They were told that the financial situation was such that the club was making redundancies on a voluntary basis and that it was seeking to let go one out of the four staff. The tribunal heard the banks had demanded that the club make two staff redundant but that it had negotiated this down to one.

Ms O’Connor said she was working 54 hours a week and the situation was that the banks were “micro-managing Donabate Golf Club” because it owed €160,000 following a court case.

“The bank were on my back all day, every day to get reports to them,” she said.

She said it had been “insulting” to be offered her job back as a consultant to work one day a week for €10,000 a year. “It was not possible to do the volume of work in one day a week. It just wasn’t possible.”

The tribunal heard Ms O’Connor had been paid statutory redundancy “plus a bit”, to bring her payment up to €20,000. She said he had been told by her union that if she did not accept it, the “bit” on top of the statutory payment would be withdrawn.