ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00004504

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Anonymised Parties	A Shop Worker	A retail Shop

Complaint(s):

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991	CA-00006473-001	16/08/2016
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967	CA-00006473-002	16/08/2016

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 08/05/2017

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael McEntee

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2014 and section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 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).

1: Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The Complainant worked for the Respondent Company (Company No 1) from 13/01/2011 until 12/08/2016. On this date the business closed unexpectedly. The business had been transferred on the 12^th January 2011 from a different company. (Company No 2). It was stated in correspondence from that a TUPE had taken place under S.I. No 131/2003 and all rights were protected.

The Complainant is claiming that his Redundancy be calculated by reference to his starting date with Company No 2.

The Complaint is also claiming for Statutory Notice in relation to his ending of employment.

2: Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The Respondent did not attend the hearing but submitted an email dated the 07/ December 2016 in which he undertook to discharge all monies due to the Complainant. He was waiting for the RP50 he had sent to the Complainant to be retuned for processing. In the RP50 he had used only his period of ownership i.e. from 13/01/2011 as the basis for the Redundancy.

3: Findings and Conclusions:

Notice Pay : CA -00006473-001

There was a conflict of evidence here. In his E mail the Respondent claimed that he had informed all staff two months prior to the closure of an imminent closure and effectively the staff was notified. The Complainant stated that No notice had been given and the Premises was effectively closed by the Landlord.

As the Complainant gave convincing verbal evidence I accepted his bona fides.

Accepting that continuity of service was established and a TUPE had taken place in January 2011 the Complainant is entitled to four weeks’ notice pay.

I award four weeks’ notice pay (€ 398 X 4 = € 1,592) – (weeks pay from payslips provided.) This sum to be paid as soon as is practical for the Respondent but no later than four weeks from the date of this Adjudication.

Redundancy Period. CA -00006473-002

Taking the correspondence from the previous employer as being bona fide and the Revenue documents presented I determine that he Redundancy service period commence from the 16 February 2009. This accordingly gives credit for service with the previous employer. The Redundancy to be calculated accordingly in keeping with Department of Social Protection regulations.

4: 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 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 – 2012 and Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under the cited Acts.

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Summary Decision /Refer to Section 3
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991	CA-00006473-001	Claim well founded / four week’s notice pay (€1,592) is awarded.
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967	CA-00006473-002	Claim well founded. Redundancy to date from 16/02/2009 – period of employment with previous employer to be reckonable.

Dated: 11^th July 2017

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael McEntee

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