ADJ-00003579

ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Decision Reference: ADJ-00003579

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

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Regulation 10 of the European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 131 of 2003)	CA-00003709-001	06/04/2016

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 17/10/2016

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael Hayes

Procedure:

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

The respondent failed to comply with its obligations under the Regulations leading to the unfair dismissal of the complainant. It imposed a sham redundancy to mask the failure. She received a letter on the 15^th of January 2016 informing her that the directors of the respondent had decided to wind down the company over a six week period and that she would be made redundant with effect from the 26^th of February 2016. Solicitor for the complainant wrote to the transferee on the 24^th of February 2016 indicating that a transfer of an undertaking within the meaning of the TUPE Regulations was in process in circumstances where it was proposed that the respondent’s business would transfer to it. The complainant sought assurances in respect of the preservation of her existing terms and conditions of employment but none were forthcoming. She was subsequently made redundant by the respondent.

Decision:

The respondent in this case is the alleged transferor within the meaning of the Regulations. It did not attend the hearing. In coming to a decision in the matter I have had regard to my decision in ADJ-00004417 being the adjudication file reference of the complaints against the transferee by the same complainant.

Consequently I find that no transfer within the meaning of the 2003 Regulations took place in this case and that therefore the complaint is not well founded.

Dated: 16^th March 2017