Abbey Theatre workers have been advised by the Labour Court to co-operate with a new biometric "time-and-attendance" system which involves the use of their fingerprints.
Members of the Building and Allied Trades Union (BATU) have been refusing to use the procedure, claiming that it "would impinge on the fundamental rights of each worker using the system, as it may store their fingerprints".
When the row could not be resolved at local level or at a conciliation conference it was referred to the Labour Court earlier this month.
In a recommendation which has just become available the court says that it regards use of the system as "normal ongoing change" and says BATU's members should comply with the use of the system.
The court said that the Abbey had undergone organisational and managerial changes in order to remain financially viable.
"As part of this change, a biometric time-and-attendance system was introduced, and currently 99 staff, mainly SIPTU members, are using it."
However, four members of BATU have been refusing to co-operate.
The system is being introduced in two phases. The first phase concerns health and safety issues and is already in place; the second is to monitor time-and-attendance and has not yet been "rolled out". It requires a fingertip to be inserted into a reader, which converts the fingerprint into an encrypted algorithm, and the worker then enters his/her unique pin number on to a pad.
The Abbey said there could be no infringement of fundamental rights, as copies of fingerprints are not stored, nor can they be retrieved from the system.
"The Data Protection Commission reviewed the system and agreed that it is compliant with all data protection legislation," the Abbey told the court.