English language school ordered to pay almost €35,000 to former teacher over sham redundancy
Seán McCárthaigh
An English language school in Dublin city centre has been ordered to pay a former teacher compensation of almost €35,000 after making her redundant at the same time that it was trying to hire other staff on lower pay rates.
The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that Academic Bridge, which operates English schools in Gardiner Place and Harcourt Street in Dublin, unfairly dismissed teacher Paola Caro Almohalla in February 2025.
Almohalla, who had worked at the school since August 2022 on a weekly salary of €694, claimed that Academic Bridge had used a sham redundancy process to force through inferior pay and conditions for teachers in early 2025.
She accused Academic Bridge of unilaterally trying to change the terms of her employment contract.
Almohalla gave evidence to the WRC that new teachers were being recruited on lower pay rates at the time she was made redundant, while the company was also trying to compel staff to accept inferior terms through revised contracts.
She also claimed that a consultation process was neither genuine nor meaningful and that no fair selection or credible alternative employment was offered to her.
The WRC heard that a new class timetable and reduced breaks were implemented before the consultation process had concluded.
However, Academic Bridge claimed it had encountered significant financial difficulties following a change of ownership in November 2024.
The school stated it had inherited total liabilities of €678,673, including a sum of €425,123 owed to Revenue.
It maintained that the operating model previously in place was unsustainable and represented a loss of €11,856 per class.
Counsel for Academic Bridge, Eoin Morris, claimed significant restructuring, including a reduction in teachers’ salaries, was necessary to keep the business solvent.
The school said it formally notified the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in February 2025 that it was starting a consultation process on potential collective redundancies.
It rejected Almohalla’s claim that any redundancy was a sham and claimed the advertising of teaching posts on lower hourly rates merely reflected the new economic model it needed to implement for the business to survive.
However, WRC adjudication official, Breiffni O’Neill, said the school’s evidence raised a number of substantial concerns about whether the redundancies were lawful.
O’Neill pointed out that Academic Bridge had implemented changes to timetables and breaks before the end of a 30-day consultation process, despite a request from the Unite trade union that they be deferred.
He said the changes were implemented as a fait accompli which was inconsistent with an attempt to reach an agreement.
O’Neill said the fact that other teachers were being recruited on a lower pay rate at the time that Almohalla was being made redundant meant her redundancy did not meet the statutory requirements under legislation.
He claimed the offer of a new contract to her in March 2025 was “not alternative employment in any meaningful sense but a continuation of the same work on reduced terms.”
The WRC official said there was also no evidence of any objective or transparent selection process where multiple employees carried out similar roles.
He ruled that Academic Bridge had failed to show a genuine redundancy situation existed and awarded Almohalla total compensation of €34,435.
O’Neill observed that the school’s conduct in relation to Almohalla’s dismissal was “wholly unsatisfactory.”
