EMPLOYMENT APPEALS TRIBUNAL
APPEAL OF: CASE NO.
Thomas Hennessy RP358/2013
Against
Electricity Supply Board
under
REDUNDANCY PAYMENTS ACTS, 1967 TO 2007
I certify that the Tribunal
(Division of Tribunal)
Chairman: Ms P. Clancy
Members: Mr W. O'Carroll
Ms H. Murphy
heard this appeal at Ennis on 7th April 2014
Representation:
Appellant:
The appellant in person
Respondent:
Ms Mary Cullinane, E.S.B. Head Office, B.S.C. Legal, 27 Lower Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin 2
Background:
A preliminary issue arose in respect of whether the Tribunal had jurisdiction to hear this appeal given that the appellant had ceased employment with the respondent on 11/09/10 and had not lodged his appeal with the Tribunal until 21/03/13.
The appellant contended that he was never informed by the respondent that his employment had ended and therefore could not know that he had to lodge an appeal in respect of redundancy. It only became clear to the appellant that he must have a claim for redundancy when he reached his 65th birthday and had not been re-employed prior to that. The appellant was aware that the respondent specified a retirement age of 65 years. Therefore the appellant decided to lodge an appeal with the Tribunal sometime after his 65th birthday.
The respondent held that there had been other matters before the Rights Commissioner or the Labour Court in early 2011 involving the appellant and that he was legally represented at those proceedings. Therefore the respondent’s position was that the appellant knew at least then that his employment had ended and still did not lodge an appeal with the Tribunal within the statutory time frame. Furthermore the respondent contented that the contract under which the appellant was employed was for temporary employment and specified a finish date of 11/09/10. The appellant had been employed on similar contracts down the years but the respondent told the Tribunal that even if the appellant was not out of time he would not meet the requirement to have a total of 104 weeks employment with the respondent in order to qualify for a redundancy lump sum.
Determination:
The Tribunal considered the submissions made, and evidence sworn, by both parties, and also, the relevant legislation and case law.
The Tribunal note in particular, the provisions of Section 24(2)(c) of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967, which provides that in a fixed term contract, the date of dismissal is the date on which that contract naturally expires, and in this case, the Tribunal accept that the dismissal date was 11/09/2010.
The Tribunal notes the claimant had 52 weeks within which to lodge his claim, (extendable to 104 weeks where reasonable cause is shown). However the claimant did not lodge his claim until 21/03/2013, which intervening period exceeded the maximum period of 104 weeks.
The claimant accepted that his employment had terminated on 11/09/10 having had other claims, before other forums, at least in 2011, when he had legal representation. Therefore, the Tribunal finds that the claimant was aware his employment had terminated on 11/09/2010, and of the requirement to lodge his claim within a specified timeframe.
The Tribunal therefore finds that it does not have jurisdiction to consider the substantive claim made, and consequently this appeal under the Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967 to 2007 must fail.
Sealed with the Seal of the
Employment Appeals Tribunal
This ________________________
(Sgd.) ________________________
(CHAIRMAN)