ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Decision Reference: ADJ-00000371

Complaint for Resolution:

At:          Workplace Relations Commission, Haddington Road, Dublin 4

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 07/03/2016

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Rosaleen Glackin

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41(4) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967, following the referral of the complaint to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint.

 The Complainant was employed by the Respondent rom 31^st March 2014 as a client account co-ordinator. This was full-time employment. The Complainant had worked for the Respondent for 2 days in May 2013 and for 7 days in December 2013. This was confirmed by both Parties. The Complainant received notification of his redundancy on 4^th September 2015 with the employment to terminate on   2^nd October 2015.

The Complainant lodged a complaint with the Workplace Relations Commission on 2^nd November 2015 under the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 seeking his Redundancy Payment.

Complainant’s Submission and Presentation:

Respondent’s Submission and Presentation:

The Complainant commenced full-time employment with the Respondent on 31^st March 2014 on an annual salary of €28,000.00. The Complainant had completed some casual work for the Respondent during May and December 2014, working 59 hours and he was paid €596.80 gross.

Following a restructuring of the business , the Managing Director met with the Complainant on 7^th August 2015 to inform him that his role was at risk.

The Respondent met with the Complainant again on 8^th September 2015 to inform him that his role was to be made redundant and offering him two alternative employments in the Company. The Complainant indicated he was not interested in either position.

The Complainant was then informed that his position was to be made redundant effective from 2^nd October 2015.

The Complainant sent an RP77 form to the Respondent on 13^th October 2015. He was informed by letter dated 24^th November that no redundancy payment was due.

The Complainant had 78 weeks of continuous employment from 31^st March 2014 until 2^nd October 2015 when his position was made redundant. Prior to that he had worked for 59 hours over May and December 2013 on a casual basis.

Therefore the Complainant did not have the required continuous service of 104 weeks to entitle him to claim redundancy payment.

Decision:

Section 41(4) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.

Issues for Decision:

The issue for decision is whether the Complainant had the “requisite service” as defined under Section 7 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 to qualify for redundancy.

Legislation involved and requirements of legislation:

Section 7 (1) of the Act provides as follows: “ An employee, if he is dismissed by his employer by reason of redundancy or is laid off or kept on short-time for the minimum period, shall, subject to this Act, be entitled to the payment of moneys which shall be known….as redundancy payment provided (a) he has been employed for the requisite period”.

The “requisite period” is defined by Section 7(5) of the Act as 104 continuous weeks of employment and this is defined at Schedule 3 of the Act

In accordance with Section 41 (4) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967, I declare the complaint is not well founded as the Complainant does not have the requisite service of 104 continuous weeks of employment required to qualify for a redundancy payment.

Dated 26^th April 2016