ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Decision Reference: ADJ-00000703

Complaint/Dispute for Resolution:

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 08/03/2016

Venue: Tom Johnson House

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Eugene Hanly

Procedure:

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

Background

The Complainant was employed as a Personal Assistant from 1/8/1988 to 30/1/2015. She was paid €48,000 per annum. She has claimed that she was unfairly dismissed because she reached the age of 65. She has sought reinstatement or compensation.

Preliminary Point - Time limit

The termination of employment occurred on 30^th January 2015. The claim for unfair dismissal was presented to the Commission on 23^rd November 2015. Sec 8 of this Act sets out the time limit allowed for making such a claim, which is 6 months with a possibility of an extension of a further 6 months in certain circumstances.

Complainant

The Complainant stated that she sought advice from Citizens Advice in December 2014 concerning her grievance and she was advised that she had 12 months to take a claim to the Commission. She subsequently consulted a solicitor regarding her grievance but was not advised on any time limits. She then sought further advice from Citizen’s Advice in January 2015. The reason why she did not present the claim earlier was because of how upset she was. Her mother became ill at that time and she subsequently came to live with her. She was very stressed and was very traumatised over this whole matter.

Respondent

The Respondent stated that the benchmark has remained “exceptional cause, not reasonable cause. The Labour Court has ruled that it is within the first 6 month’s following the termination of employment that the justification has to be satisfied. The longer the time goes on the stronger the onus is to establish “the cause”. In this case the Complainant has had the benefit of advice from Citizens Advice and her solicitor. Therefore she had all the resources to be fully informed. The Citizens Advice web site is very clear that claims must be presented within six months of the date of termination.

The Complainant has not established exceptional cause or reasonable cause.

Decision on the Preliminary Point – Time Limit

Sec 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Acts as amended by the National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Act 2015 states. “…where the adjudication officer is satisfied that the giving of the notice within the period rerferred to in paragraph (a) was prevented due to reasonablecause”.

Therefore the benchmark is “reasonable” cause not exceptional cause.

The Labour Court in the Cementation Skanska V Carroll DWT00338 (WTC0333) stated, “ in considering if reasonable cause exists it is for the complainantto show that there are reasons which both explains the delay and afford an excuse for the delay…In the context in which the expression reasonable cause appears in the statute it suggests an objective standard but it must be applied to the facts and the circumstances known to the complainant at the material time”

In this case I note that the Complainant has had the benefit of advice from both Citizens Advice and her Solicitor.

I have considered her reasons given and I do not accept that they constitute reasonable cause as they did not in my view afford an excuse for the delay or an explanation for the delay.

I have decided not to grant the extension to the time limit.

Therefore I find that the claim was presented to the Commission 23^rd November 2015 and so it is clearly outside the time limit allowed in Sec 8 of this Act.

I have decided that I do not have jurisdiction to hear this complaint.

Decision:

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

I have decided that I do not have jurisdiction to hear this complaint.

Dated: 8^th April 2016