The Labour Court recommended that O’ Callaghan’s Butchers pay a worker €25,000 in ex-gratia severance, in addition to statutory entitlements. The recommendation was signed on 9 February 2009. The worker, a butcher/manager employed since 1985, was made compulsorily redundant. The Court criticised the lack of proper procedures, consultation and representation, and said an ex-gratia payment is the norm in industrial relations, especially in compulsory redundancy cases.