ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Decision Reference: ADJ-00001215

Complaints for Resolution:

 A Community Employment Scheme Worker  / Minister of a Government Department

At:                          Workplace Relations Commission, Haddington Road, Dublin 4.

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 09/05/2016

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Rosaleen Glackin

Procedure:

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

Background

The Complainant has been employed by a Named Unemployed Centre on a Community Employment Scheme since March 2003. The Complainant referred complaints to the Workplace Relations Commission on 17^th December 2015 alleging the Named Respondent had breached Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 – 2015, had breached Section 3 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 – 2015, had breached Sections 17 and 21 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 – 2015 and had breached Section 9 of the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act, 2003 – 2015.

Preliminary Issue.

The same complaints were lodged against three named Respondents – A Minister of a Government Department – The Trustees of an Unemployment Centre and against the Named Unemployment Centre itself. The Complainant is employed by the Named Unemployment Centre and this has been confirmed by both Parties.

The Legal Representative of the Complainant stated at the Hearing, that they were not in a position to say if the Minister of a Government Department was the Employer but the Unemployment Centre was funded by the Government Department...

Decision: The Complainant has been employed by the Named Unemployment Centre since 2007 and has received a written statement of his Terms and Conditions of Employment in accordance with the Community Employment Procedures Manual. Community Employment Schemes, which are managed by a Sponsoring Organisation, are funded on a yearly basis by the Department of Social Protection. The objectives of the CE Schemes are to “enhance the employability and mobility of disadvantaged and unemployed persons by providing work experience and training opportunities for them within their communities”

Contracts are entered into by the Department and the Sponsoring Organisation in relation to the procedures of the Scheme for a period of 52 weeks and the role of the Government Department is to provide funding to the Sponsoring Organisation for the project participants. Therefore the Minister or the Department are not the Employer of the Scheme participant.

The onus of proving the correct Respondent for the purposes of the Acts rests with the Complainant. There was no evidence presented to me as the Adjudicator at the Hearing to show that the Minister was the Employer of the Complainant.

Accordingly the complaints against the Minister of a named Government Department are not well founded as no evidence was presented to me as the Adjudicator that the Minister was the Respondent for the purposes of these complaints.

Date: 5^th August 2016