EMPLOYMENT APPEALS TRIBUNAL
CLAIMS OF:
| CASE NO. |
Maria Grumeza - Claimant
| UD1624/2012 RP38/2014 |
against
|
|
Eurocollege Institute of Education Limited – Respondent
|
|
under
|
|
UNFAIR DISMISSALS ACTS, 1977 TO 2007
REDUNDANCY PAYMENTS ACTS 1967 TO 2007
I certify that the Tribunal
(Division of Tribunal)
Chairman: Mr R. Maguire BL
Members: Mr F. Cunneen
Mr N. Dowling
heard this claim at Dublin on 21st January 2014
Representation
Claimant: Ms Faye Revington BL instructed by Ms Niamh Cullen of
Dixon Quinlan Solicitors, 8 Parnell Square, Dublin 1
Respondent: In person
The determination of the Tribunal was as follows:
The claimant’s representative made an application to have the Complaint Form amended to include a claim under the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2007. The respondent stopped paying the claimant’s wages due to financial pressure and as a result the claimant had to leave. She was not replaced after her employment terminated.
The director of the respondent company did not object to a claim for a redundancy payment. The company ceased trading in November 2013. The director disagreed with the claim of unfair dismissal. She accepted that the claimant was owed a significant sum in unpaid wages. The company was in financial distress but the director did not have any documentary evidence of this and did not bring the accountant to give evidence on the matter.
The director told the Tribunal that the business was a college providing third level courses to students who were mainly immigrants. When the regulations relating to immigration changed, she had to transfer her students to another college that could offer degree level courses. The director had a long career in education and in the future she hoped to work in education again but it would likely be under a different brand. Meanwhile the affairs of the respondent are in the hands of advisors.
The director believed that the accountant had discussed redundancy with the claimant. Again she had no documents to support this contention.
Claimant’s Case
The claimant gave evidence. She started working in October 2008 as a lecturer and tutor in the newly developed diploma course in Health and Social Care. At the end of 2010 she became head of that Department. Her salary was €920 per week. However she did not get payslips and she could not calculate what her actual wages were. When she queried her wages with the director she was told that the reduction in her wages was due to an increase in tax. When she was given a contract of employment in 2011 she accepted it, including the term that specified wages of €812 per week.
During 2011 there were shortfalls in her wages. The claimant met with the director and corresponded with her to try to resolve the issue. The situation was worse in 2012 and there were occasions when she was not paid at all. The other heads of Department resigned and left but the claimant felt that she could not because she had exams to prepare and students to look after. After a time she asked to be laid-off but this request was refused. She had no choice but to resign because she was not being paid. On numerous occasions the director undertook to pay the claimant’s arrears of wages but failed to pay on each occasion.
Determination
The Tribunal is disappointed that the respondent did not adduce evidence and neither did she produce any documentation to support her statements that the respondent company is in financial difficulty. The director made clear her intention to resurrect the business at a future date under a different legal brand presumably with a different company. Also it is apparent that the director, despite repeated agreements with the claimant in respect of her claim for wages, has been unwilling or unable to pay anything to the claimant.
The Tribunal accepts the claimant’s evidence that her employment ended when she ceased to be paid. The Tribunal also accepts the director’s statement that the respondent business has ceased trading. Accordingly, the Tribunal finds that the claimant’s employment terminated by virtue of redundancy, and on foot of the application to amend the Complaint Form, amends it to include a claim for redundancy. The claim under the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2007 is dismissed. The claimant is awarded a redundancy lump sum under the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2007 based on the following information:
Date of Birth
Date Employment Began 30 October 2008
Date Employment Ended 22 October 2012
Gross Weekly Wage €812.00
This award is made subject to the appellant having been in insurable employment under the relevant Social Welfare Acts during the relevant period. A weekly ceiling of €600.00, gross pay, applies to payments from the social insurance fund.
Sealed with the Seal of the
Employment Appeals Tribunal
This ________________________
(Sgd.) ________________________
(CHAIRMAN)