PUP pension announcement welcomed
by Mehak Dugal
 
Ashley Connolly, the head of Fórsa’s Services and Enterprises Division, welcomed the announcement in light of the uncertainty faced by aviation workers in the sector.
Ashley Connolly, the head of Fórsa’s Services and Enterprises Division, welcomed the announcement in light of the uncertainty faced by aviation workers in the sector.

Fórsa has welcomed the Government’s recent announcement on the treatment of reckonable service for workers on the pandemic unemployment payment (PUP).

 

Unions had raised concerns that workers laid off during the last 18 months could be further disadvantaged when the suspension of Redundancy Act provisions expired at the end of this month.

 

On foot of these fears, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) called for the period spent on PUP to be included in the calculation of any redundancy lump sum payment.

 

The Government has since announced a special payment to workers who face a redundancy situation in the coming months. This will cover any losses in statutory redundancy entitlements due to periods of lay off or short-time work during the pandemic.

 

Ashley Connolly, the head of Fórsa’s Services and Enterprises Division, welcomed the announcement in light of the uncertainty faced by aviation workers in the sector.

 

“This is going to benefit thousands of workers made redundant, who lost reckonable service due to being laid off or put on short-time work during the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.

 

At present, the legislation does not provide for the inclusion of periods of lay-off within the final three years of service before redundancy as allowable for the purposes of calculation of the redundancy lump sum payment.

 

So, the new provision could assist workers who would otherwise lose out on almost 19 months of redundancy pay.

 

Fórsa also backed ICTU’s call on Oireachtas members to actively engage with trade unions and the Government to enact the necessary legislation without delay.

 

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