ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION/RECOMMENDATION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00003240

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Anonymised Parties	Doctor	Health Services.

Representatives

Thomas Smyth Irish Medical Organisation

Byrne Wallace Solicitors

Complaint(s):

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 14 of the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act, 2003	CA-00004790-001	24/05/2016

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 18/10/2016

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: John Tierney

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 [and/or Section 14 of the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003] 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).

Background:

The Respondent raised a number of preliminary points at the start of the Hearing. The first issue raised was in regard to the Claimant’s locus standi. He has bought his complaint under section 6(1)of the 2003 Act on 24 May 2016. Section 6 provides that a fixed term employee shall not, in respect of his or her conditions of employment, be treated in a less favourable manner than a comparable permanent employee.

The Claimant’s complaint is that by treating him as a ‘new entrant’ on his appointment to a permanent position on 2 December 2013, this meant that his salary as a permanent consultant was lower than the salary he had been receiving when he was employed as a fixed term consultant in circumstances where he asserts that named permanent comparator was not treated as a new entrant and did not suffer such lower salary.

It is evident that this complaint is in respect of the Claimant’s treatment when he took up a permanent position; namely the salary which attached to such permanent position. In this regard the Respondent relies on the decision in the case of Dublin Port Company v McCraith & Kieran

The second issue was in regard to time limits. The Claimant filed his complaint with the WRC on 24 May 2016 by which time he had been a permanent employee for a period of nearly 2.5 years. This places the complaint outside the time limits of section 14 of the 2003 Act. Therefore the WRC does not have jurisdiction to consider such a complaint.

The Claimant was afforded four working weeks to respond to these preliminary points.

Decision:

Section 41 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.

[Section 14 of the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work)Act 2003.]

I have considered the preliminary points raised by the Respondent. I find them both well founded and declare that I do not have jurisdiction in this matter.

Dated: 11^th August 2017

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: John Tierney

Key Words:

Fixed-Term Work