Aer Lingus's plan to sack its cabin crew and re-hire them on lower rates of pay would, if successfully implemented, "establish a road map for all employers to slash and burn workers' pay and conditions with impunity", a leading employment law solicitor has warned.

Richard Grogan said he had "serious concerns" about the plan, particularly as it could be part-funded by the state, which usually pays back 60% of redundancy costs to firms which have laid off workers. "I would be very surprised if it wasn't legally challenged," he said.

Chief executive of Aer Lingus, Christopher Mueller, last week announced that he would sack all 1,300 cabin crew and immediately offer all but 230 of them their jobs back on new contracts with reduced rates of pay and new working conditions.

The 230 cabin crew to be made compulsorily redundant will be paid statutory redundancy entitlements only of two weeks' pay per year of service.

Mueller's tough approach came after the cabin crew, members of Impact, voted two to one against the airline's €97m cost-cutting survival plan.

This includes 670 voluntary redundancies and pay cuts of up to 10%.

All other groups within the former state airline backed the survival plan.

Under redundancy legislation, an employer is entitled to a rebate from the social insurance fund of 60% of the cost of statutory redundancy payments.

But Grogan, from Richard Grogan and Associates, pointed out this rebate is only paid if the redundancy is "genuine" and the post is being abolished or duties are being changed.

Grogan said that if Aer Lingus offered to immediately rehire the same crew it had sacked on inferior pay but with the same duties, it would be questionable whether it would be considered a "genuine" redundancy as specified in the redundancy legislation.

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