ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Decision Reference: ADJ-00002297
Complaint(s)/Dispute(s) for Resolution:
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 | CA-00003091-011 | 08/03/2016 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 | CA-00003091-012 | 08/03/2016 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 | CA-00003091-013 | 08/03/2016 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 17/05/2016
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael Hayes
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41(4) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and the abovementioned Acts 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 received no statement of my terms of employment. |
I arrived to work on 4th March 2016 to be told that my rate of pay was cut by €10 from my starting float. |
I have been employed by the business for 3 years, new owners took over in march of 2015, when they took over they proceeded to sell the vans which we use as drivers and told us that we would have to drive our own vehicles or that he would get someone who would, he promised that he would be getting new vans in january of this year. I informed him that we were not insured to drive our own vehicles for work purposes but he gave us no other option. He has one van at the moment now and has been told by a mechanic that the van is unsafe and needs numerous things replaced on it. In November of last year I requested holiday pay for the next month which i was told would be €30 per day for four weeks as i only get a €30 starting float and the rest of my wages are made up on commission, I informed him that this was not right and that it should either be 8% of my annual pay or else worked out on an average of my previous 12 weeks commission, whichever worked out more for me. To date i have received no holiday pay at all. On March 4th 2016 I arrived to work to be informed that my starting float was being cut by 33% to €20 and that i could either take it or find work elsewhere, i opted to leave and make a formal complaint. I would not make minimum wage based on this starting float as on a quiet night even with the €30 starting float i would be lucky to make €50, i accepted this at the time as i usually made up the difference on a busy night but with the new starting float I wouldn't have a hope of earning enough. He also informed one of the other drivers who also left that he was planning on getting rid of the drivers anyway which i felt hard to believe as it accounts for 35% of his nightly earnings. He now has a sign in the window of his business saying "Drivers Wanted" which i have a picture of and has since hired two new drivers. |
The complainant submits that his employment transferred to the respondent by way of TUPE on the 12th of April 2016 but effectively from a date in early March 2016. He worked 15 hours and received €138.75 gross per week. He never received written terms and conditions in breach of s. 3 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994. His terms extant were unilaterally to his detriment in breach of s. 5 by the respondent. Furthermore he was dismissed by the respondent as it failed to contact him to attend for work as was the practice after the 8th of March 2016. A notice seeking application for replacement was posted at that time. He was constructively dismissed in breach of the requirements of the Unfair Dismissal Act 1977-2007.
Decision:
CA-00003091-011: - Based on the uncontested evidence adduced at hearing I find that the complaint is well founded and hereby require that respondent pay the claimant €500 (say five hundred euro) in compensation for breach.
CA-00003091-012: - Based on the uncontested evidence adduced at hearing I find that the complaint is well founded and hereby require that respondent pay the claimant €400 (say four hundred euro) in compensation for breach.
CA-00003091-013: - Based on the uncontested evidence adduced at hearing I find that the complaint is well founded. The appropriate remedy is compensation and I hereby require that respondent pay the claimant €2,000 (say two thousand euro) in compensation for breach.
Dated: 1st July 2016