Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

Recovery Technician

Motor Company

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977.

CA-00004277-001

6^th May 2016

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994.

CA-00004277-002

6^th May 2016

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 11 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act 1973.

CA-00004277-003

6^th May 2016

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act 1991.

CA-00004277-004

6^th May 2016

The Complainant was employed by the Respondent from 15^th January 2013 to 18^th February 2016 and his weekly rate of pay was €430.00c nett.

The Complainant was submitting the following complaints under the 4 Act.

1         That he had been unfairly dismissed in breach of his rights under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977.

2         That he had not been provided by the Respondent with a written statement of the particulars of his terms and conditions of employment in accordance with the provisions of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994.

3         That his employment had been terminated by the Respondent without any notice whatsoever in breach of his rights and entitlements under the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act 1973.

4         That the Respondent had failed to pay him wages properly payable to him and also accrued untaken annual leave payments due to him at the time of the termination of his employment in breach of his rights under the Payment of Wages Act 1991.

Similar complaints under ADJ-00002752 and CA-00003829 were withdrawn by the Complainant at the Hearing.

The Complainant submitted that the Respondent was in breach of his rights and entitlements under the 4 Acts as listed above under Background and he made the following submissions in that respect.

Unfair Dismissals Act 1977:                                                                                                                                   The Complainant said that he was unfairly dismissed without any good or valid reason and in total breach of fair procedures and constitutional rights.

The Complainant said that he was employed by the Respondent from 15^th January 2013, without any problem.

The Complainant said that on 17^th February 2016 a cash deposit provided by a customer went missing.     The Complainant said that when he arrived at work as normal on the following day, 18^th February 2016, the Respondent immediately accused him of stealing the deposit and demanded that the Complainant return the deposit.    

The Complainant informed and confirmed to the Respondent that he had not taken the cash or anything else and that there was no justification whatsoever for these completely unfounded   allegations.

The Complainant said that he was summarily dismissed on the spot, without recourse to any investigation as the Respondent had already decided he was guilty.   He said that there was no substantive basis for the dismissal decision as he was innocent of the allegation and there was no procedure employed by the Respondent fair or otherwise.

The Complainant submitted that it was clear that he had been unfairly dismissed, both substantively and procedurally and he sought a finding and decision to that effect.

The Complainant gave direct evidence in relation to his efforts to secure alternative work and mitigate his losses.

Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994:                                                                                                The Complainant submitted that the Respondent had failed to provide him with a written statement of the particulars of his terms and conditions of employment as required by Section 3 of the 1994 Act and he sought redress in the form of compensation in accordance with the provisions of Section 7 of the 1994 Act.

The Complainant sought a favourable decision.

Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act 1973:                                                                                     The Complainant said that he was summarily dismissed by the Respondent without any notice or pay-in-lieu-of-notice; and he submitted that based on his service of 3 years and I month he was entitled to two notice in the sum of €860.00c and he sought a decision to that effect.

Payment of Wages Act 1991:                                                                                                                             The Complainant said that at the time of the termination of his employment he was not paid for his final week of work and he submitted that he was due the nett sum of €344 (4 days pay) in that respect.   The Complainant further said that he had not been paid for accrued, untaken annual leave at the time of the termination of his employment and he submitted that he was due the nett sum of €1,146.70c in that respect.     The Complainant submitted that he was due the total nett sum of €1,490.70c and he sought a decision to that effect.

The Respondent was notified of the date, time and location of the hearing, but failed to attend or send any submissions.

The Respondent was not present or represented at the Hearing and they sent no submissions, accordingly I only have the evidence any submissions to rely upon in these matters.

Based on the uncontested evidence of the Complainant I find and conclude that the complaints under the 4 Acts are all well founded and they are upheld.  

It should be noted that as I have upheld the Complainant’s complaint in relation to his entitlement to two weeks minimum notice (see below) this means in effect that his date of dismissal for the purpose of compensation is now extended by that two weeks and is now 4^th March 2016 (to do otherwise would be to compensate him twice for that two week period).

Based on the above findings the following are my decisions in relation to each of the complaints under the 4 Acts.

Unfair Dismissals Act 1977: CA-00004277-001:                                                                                                                                 Based on the uncontested evidence of the Complainant I have decided that the Complainant was unfairly dismissed and I declare that the Complainant’s complaint under Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 is well founded and it is upheld by me.

In considering the appropriate redress in the instant case I have taken into account all the evidence available to me and I have concluded that there is a total absence of the minimum level of trust necessary to sustain an employer/employee relationship and that accordingly the only appropriate redress in the instant case is compensation.

The Complainant was unfairly dismissed by the Respondent and in accordance with the provisions of Section 7 of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, I now require the Respondent to pay him compensation in the sum of €15,500.00c.

Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994:     CA-00004277-002:                                                                                                  Based on the uncontested evidence of the Complainant I have decided and I declare that the Complainant was not provided by the Respondent with a written statement of the particulars of his terms and conditions of employment in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Act and I declare that accordingly the complaint under Section 7 of the 1994 Act.     Accordingly, and as provided for in Section 7 of the 1994 Act I require the Respondent to pay the Complainant compensation in the sum of €1,500.00c.

Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act 1973:     CA-00004277-003:                                                 Based on the uncontested evidence of the Complainant I have decided and I declare that the Respondent dismissed the Complainant from his employment without any notice or pay-in-lieu of notice in breach of his rights and entitlements under Section 4 of the 1973 Act.   Accordingly I declare that the complaint under Section 11 of the Act is well founded and it is upheld by me.   In accordance with the provisions of Section 12 of the 1973 Act and based on his more than 3 years’ service the Complainant is entitled to two pay in the nett sum €860.00c and I require the Respondent to pay him that sum.    

Payment of Wages Act 1991:   CA-000004277-004:                                                                                           Based on the uncontested evidence of the Complainant I have decided and I declare the Respondent failed to pay the Complainant unpaid wages and accrued untaken annual leave payments due to him and properly payable to him in connection with his employment and accordingly I declare that the complaint under Section 6 of the 1991 Act in relation to a breach of the Complainant’s rights under Section 5 of the 1991 is well founded and it is upheld by me.       In accordance with provisions of Section 6 of the 1991 Act I require the Respondent to pay the Complaint the nett sum of €1,490.70c.