EMPLOYMENT APPEALS TRIBUNAL
APPEAL(S) OF: CASE NO.
EMPLOYEE RP350/2012
against
EMPLOYER
under
REDUNDANCY PAYMENTS ACTS, 1967 TO 2007
I certify that the Tribunal
(Division of Tribunal)
Chairman: Ms. F. Crawford BL
Members: Mr. F. Cunneen
Mr. P. Woods
heard this appeal in Dublin on 9 July 2013
Representation:
_______________
Appellant(s):
No legal or trade union representation
Respondent(s):
The decision of the Tribunal was as follows:-
The Tribunal received a redundancy claim in respect of an employment from 10 October 2007 to 17 January 2012. A redundancy payment was sought because it was alleged that the appellant, on 17 January 2012, was ready to return to work after having been out but that the respondent did not provide her with work for thirteen weeks.
The respondent disputed the appellant’s entitlement to a redundancy lump sum on the grounds that she had resigned from the respondent’s employment of her own volition such that the very fact of dismissal was contested. It was submitted that the appellant had sought a reduction in hours which could only be facilitated at other sites. It was contended that the appellant had unreasonably refused several offers of work at alternative sites even including one that appeared very convenient for her. The respondent was unwilling to contemplate that there could be a redundancy situation in this case because the appellant’s former role continued to exist.
Determination:
Having heard sworn testimony from a witness for the respondent and from the appellant herself (assisted by a Tribunal-appointed interpreter), the Tribunal could not disregard the fact that the appellant left her employment and even signed a leaver’s form. The Tribunal accepts that she was offered work at a new location and that the offer was reasonable. The appeal under the Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967 to 2007, fails.
Sealed with the Seal of the
Employment Appeals Tribunal
This ________________________
(Sgd.) ________________________
(CHAIRMAN)