ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Decision Reference: ADJ-00000089

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

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967	CA-00000108-001	06/10/2015
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967	CA-00000108-002	06/10/2015
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967	CA-00000108-003	06/10/2015

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 02/02/2016

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Emile Daly

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41(4) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015, 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:

A Voluntary Severance Package was announced by the Respondent in 2015 to which, the Complainant applied. His application was accepted by the Respondent and then withdrawn because he would not sign a waiver to a pension issue that be believed was nothing to do with Voluntary Severance Package. The Respondent asked the Complainant to sign a waiver to change his pension entitlement, which was not favourable to him. The Complainant did not wish to sign the waiver, but he did wish to take up the Voluntary Severance Offer. However this was then denied to him.

Respondent’s Submission and Presentation:

A preliminary application was made; that there is no jurisdiction for an Adjudicator to hear this claim on the following grounds:

There is no redundancy, as the Complainant is still employed with the Respondent

The relief being sought is for a declaration that the Complainant is redundant and that he is entitled to the benefit of the Voluntary Severance Offer made to the Claimant in 2015.

There is no jurisdiction for an Adjudicator under section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 to make an award other than a statutory award. There is no jurisdiction to make an award for contractual redundancy
The Voluntary Severance Offer made in 2015 was conditional on a pension waiver being signed. The Complainant chose not to sign this waiver, as such, he rejected the Voluntary Severance Offer.
The Voluntary Severance Scheme was voluntary on both sides. If conditions of the offer were not met, the Respondent was entitled to withdraw the offer, which they did. The choice to accept the terms of the offer were up to the Complainant to decide. He decided against it and, therefore, is still employed.

Decision:

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

Issues for Decision:

Whether an Adjudicator has jurisdiction to hear a claim under the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967, as amended, in circumstances where the claim is for a redundancy arising from a Voluntary Severance Scheme, as opposed to statutory redundancy.

Secondly, whether an Adjudicator has jurisdiction to hear a claim for redundancy, when the employment of the Complainant is continuing.

Legislation involved and requirements of legislation:

Redundancy Payments Act 1967

Decision:

There is no jurisdiction to hear this claim.

Reasons for Decision

Section 39 Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 as amended provides an entitlement to a Complainant to make a claim for statutory redundancy, the calculation of which depends on the age of the employee and the number of years that he has worked for the Respondent.

The Act does not provide a right to a redundancy payment which may arise in an employee’s contract, as is being claimed in this case. An Adjudicator has no jurisdiction to enforce contractual redundancy rights.

There is no right to a redundancy payment, even on a statutory basis, in circumstances where the Complainant is still in employment with the Respondent Company.

Dated: 3^rd March 2016