Bolands Ltd v Ward

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 01 January 1988
• Date: 01 January 1988
• Court: Supreme Court

(H.C., S.C.)

Bolands Ltd

and

Ward

Termination of employment - Notice - Continuance of business - Purported extension of notice - Whether permissible - Whether employees received their statutory entitlement - Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973 (No. 4), ss. 7(1), 11(2).

The plaintiff company having gone into receivership in 1984, the receiver gave notice to each of the defendants, who were employed by the company, that their employment would terminate on a given date. In each case, the period of notice given was that provided for by the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973. However, before the expiration of the notice, this period was extended from week to week by means of a notification typed on each defendant's pay-packet. The employment of the defendants finally terminated on 12 October, 1984, one week after the final extension notice to each defendant. The Employment Appeals Tribunal held that the final notification was the relevant notice of termination for the purposes of the 1973 Act, and that the defendants had not therefore received the minimum statutory notice, and it awarded them compensation accordingly. The plaintiff appealed to the High Court pursuant to s. 11 (2) of the 1973 Act, submitting that the notice required by the Act was a minimum period, and that any extension complied in law with the requirements of the Act. The High Court dismissed the appeal, holding that a statutory notice, in order to comply with the Act, must nominate a date on which the employment is to terminate, and that if the employer does not...