ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00007193
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | A Sales Assistant | A Retail Store |
Complaints:
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-00009715-001 | 14/02/2017 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 11 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973 | CA-00009715-002 | 14/02/2017 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 | CA-00009715-003 | 14/02/2017 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 | CA-00009715-004 | 14/02/2017 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 | CA-00009715-005 | 14/02/2017 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 | CA-00009715-006 | 14/02/2017 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 13/07/2017
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Gaye Cunningham
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015, Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967, Section 11 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act 1973, Section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 and Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act 1991, 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/ Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The complaint under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 was withdrawn. The remaining complaints are that the complainant did not receive any notice of the termination of her employment, she received no pay in lieu of annual leave accrued on cessation of her employment, she received no payment for the public holidays in December 2016, and that no wages were paid to her for her final working week. |
The complainant was employed by the respondent from 6th October 2010 to 28th December 2016 when the employer informed her that the business was closing that day. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The respondent did not attend the hearing. |
Findings and Conclusions:
The respondent did not attend the hearing. Correspondence was received from her prior to the hearing. In essence she requested that in reaching a decision regarding monies owed, that account be taken of stock given to staff. I find that I have no legal authority or jurisdiction to do so, and must decline her written request. I accept the complainant’s uncontested evidence that she worked for the respondent for over six years, that the shop normally opened throughout the Christmas period each year, however in 2016 she finished work on 24th December and was due to work on 29th December 2016. She was informed by the respondent that it had ceased trading. While she received her statutory redundancy payment , her further claims were still outstanding. |
Decision:
CA-00009715-002
Based on the uncontested evidence of the complainant that she was informed on 28th December 2016 that her employment was terminated, I find that the complainant did not receive her statutory entitlement of minimum notice.
CA-00009715-003
Section 23 (1) of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 provides for compensation for annual leave accrued and not taken when the employment ceases. Based on the uncontested evidence of the complainant, I find that she was entitled to payment for 15 days annual leave, accrued on cessation of her employment. I declare her complaint to be well founded and require the respondent to pay to the complainant the sum of €1,070.
CA-00009715-004
Section 23 (2) of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 provides that when an employee has worked for four weeks prior to a public holiday and the employment ended in the week ending on the day before the public holiday, then that employee is entitled to compensation equal to the day’s pay for that public holiday. Based on the uncontested evidence of the complainant, I note that her last working day was 24th December 2016. There were two public holidays following this date, 25th and 26th December 2016. I declare her complaint to be well founded and I require the respondent to pay to the complainant the sum of €143.
CA-00009715-005
The complainant seeks payment in lieu of minimum notice. Section 1 (1) (b) of the Act provides that the definition of Wages includes such sums that are due to the employee from not receiving the appropriate prior notice of termination of employment. In this instant case, the complainant had six years service and was therefore entitled to statutory minimum notice of four weeks. I declare her complaint to be well founded and I require the respondent to pay to the complainant the sum of €1,427.
CA-00009715-006
The complainant seeks net payment for the final week’s wages which were not paid to her on cessation of her employment. I declare her complaint to be well founded and I require the respondent to pay to the complainant the sum of €339.78.
Dated: 20/07/2017
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Gaye Cunningham