EMPLOYMENT APPEALS TRIBUNAL
APPEAL(S) OF: CASE NO.
Finbarr Mitchell RP268/2013
against
Restroom Co. Limited T/A Swisher Services
under
REDUNDANCY PAYMENTS ACTS, 1967 TO 2007
I certify that the Tribunal
(Division of Tribunal)
Chairman: Ms. K. O'Mahony BL
Members: Mr. P. Casey
heard this appeal in Cork on 31 March 2014
Representation:
_______________
Appellant(s):
The Square, Passage West, Co. Cork
Respondent(s):
No legal representation
The decision of the Tribunal was as follows:-
The appellant claimed that his employment, which commenced in March 1999, ended by reason of redundancy.
Summary of Evidence
The appellant’s position was that in or around March 2012 he informed the respondent that he would be absent for some time as he would be undergoing surgery and a course of treatment thereafter. Following his surgery some complications arose and he sent the relevant medical certificate to the respondent. In January 2013, when he called to the respondent to inform the director that he would be returning shortly, he discovered that the respondent had ceased trading and that the other employees, who had been working in the business, had been made redundant. The appellant returned to his other part-time work with another employer in March 2013.
The position of the director of the respondent company was that when the appellant informed him in early March 2012 that he had a very serious illness, it had been agreed that the appellant would the bring forward his retirement which he had, in any event, planned for that autumn. Under cross-examination, the director was insistent that a P45 had issued to the appellant when he retired in early 2012. The appellant’s position was that he had not received a P45 in 2012 and an officer in Revenue had informed him that his P45 had been lodged online on 13 February 2013.
Determination:
The Tribunal accepts the appellant’s version of events that he did not agree to retire in a conversation with the director on 9 March 2012 when he appellant informed the director about his illness and upcoming surgery. The respondent ceased trading at the end of August 2012 as the company was insolvent and its employees were made redundant at that time. Thus, the Tribunal finds that the appellant’s employment terminated at that time. Accordingly, the Tribunal finds that the appellant is entitled to a redundancy lump sum under the Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967 to 2007, based on the following details:
Date of commencement: 15 March 1999
Date of termination: 31 August 2012
Gross weekly pay: €310.50
This award is made subject to the appellant having been in insurable employment under the Social Welfare Acts during the relevant period.
Sealed with the Seal of the
Employment Appeals Tribunal
This ________________________
(Sgd.) ________________________
(CHAIRMAN)