ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Decision Reference: ADJ-00000697

Complaint(s)/Dispute(s) for Resolution:

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1946	CA-00001032-001	23/11/2015

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 12/04/2016

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Peter O'Brien

Procedure:

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

Complainant’s Submission and Presentation:

I want my company to pay me an enhanced redundancy package of 3 weeks pay in addition to my statutory payment as there has been precedent set in the sector i worked in for this. The complainant was employed as a Social Worker for nearly 14 years and has contributed to numerous community based projects during her employment. It is her case that the standard redundancy payment for similar employees in her sector is statutory redundancy plus three weeks per year of service and the complainant is being denied parity of treatment to similar colleagues who were made redundant. There is Labour Court precedents to support the complainants case.

Respondent’s Submission and Presentation:

The Respondent is not in a position to pay the enhanced redundancy request due to its financial situation. The Respondent is totally funded by income from a Government Department and is not in a position, without external funding, to meet the complainants claim.

Recommendation:

Section 41(4) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a Recommendation in relation to the complaint(s)/dispute(s) in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act. From the submissions on behalf of the complainant it appears that an industry norm of paying three extra weeks redundancy is paid to Social Workers. The complainant should not be treated any differently. However, the Respondent does not have the funds to pay the complainant the extra redundancy. I recommend that the parties jointly co-operate and contact the relevant funding Department on foot of this recommendation to seek the additional funding to pay the complainant the industry norm for her role of three extra weeks’ redundancy per week of service.

Dated: 1 July 2016