EMPLOYMENT APPEALS TRIBUNAL
CLAIMS OF: CASE NOS
EMPLOYEE – Claimant UD421/2010
RP615/2010
MN389/2010
against
EMPLOYER – Respondent
EMPLOYER – Respondent
under
UNFAIR DISMISSALS ACTS, 1977 TO 2007
REDUNDANCY PAYMENTS ACTS, 1967 TO 2007
MINIMUM NOTICE AND TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT ACTS 1973 TO 2005
I certify that the Tribunal
(Division of Tribunal)
Chairman: Ms P. McGrath
Members: Mr E. Handley
Ms N. Greene
heard this appeal at Dublin on 9th June 2011
Representation:
Appellant: Mr Richard Grogan of Richard Grogan & Associates Solicitors,
16 – 17 College Green, Dublin 2
Respondent: No appearance or representation.
The decision of the Tribunal was as follows:
The claim under the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2005 was withdrawn.
Claimant’s Case
The claimant’s representative told the Tribunal that the claimant had been given a contract of employment when she commenced working in 2005. According to the terms of her contract the claimant was to work a 39 hour week. More than a year before her employment ended the claimant’s hours of work were reduced. At no stage did the claimant consent to the reduction in her hours of work. She was available to work 39 hours. The claimant’s representative asked the Tribunal to make an Order based on the claimant’s contractual rate of pay.
The claimant gave evidence. She worked as a cleaner and at the start she worked a 39 hour week. When the recession started her hours of work were reduced. She did not consent to the reduction in her hours and at no stage did she sign in consent to the reduction. Her employment ended on 4 December 2009.
The claimant’s representative asserted that reducing the claimant’s hours without her consent amounted to a reduction in her wages that was in effect an unlawful deduction of wages contrary to the Payment of Wages Act. There is nothing in the claimant’s contract of employment that permits the employer to reduce her hours of work without her consent. He asked the Tribunal to make an order reflecting the claimant’s wages as given in her contract of employment.
Determination
The Tribunal accepts the uncontested evidence of the claimant that her employment ended when the respondent ceased trading. The Tribunal finds that the claimant is entitled to a redundancy lump sum under the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2007. The Tribunal carefully considered the submission from the claimant’s representative that the award should be based on the contract salary and not on the actual salary paid. The Tribunal is satisfied that it can only make an award based on the claimant’s actual salary. The claimant is awarded a redundancy lump sum based on the following information:
Date of Birth 07 September 1983
Date Employment Began 19 September 2005
Date Employment Ended 09 February 2010
Gross Weekly Pay €218.83
This award is made subject to the claimant having been in insurable employment under the Social Welfare Acts during the relevant period.
The claim under the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973 to 2005 succeeds and the claimant is awarded the sum of €437.66 being two weeks’ pay.
Sealed with the Seal of the
Employment Appeals Tribunal
This ________________________
(Sgd.) ________________________
(CHAIRMAN)