ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION/RECOMMENDATION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00004380
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | Accounts Administrator | A University |
Representatives | A Relative | A Barrister |
Complaint(s):
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Schedule 2 of the Protected Disclosures Act, 2014 | CA-00005546-001 | 28/06/2016 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 26/04/2017
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Peter O'Brien
Location of Hearing: The Radisson Blu Hotel, Limerick
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 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 Complainant is employed as an Accounts Administrator with the Respondent. On June 28th 2016 the Complainant lodged the following complaint with the WRC under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 “ I would like to make a complaint under the protected disclosures act 2014 in relation to a disclosure I made to my employer in December 2014 in relation to the endangerment of my Health and safety. I was suspended in June 2015 in relation to that disclosure and I feel there has been a miscarriage of justice in that process”.The WRC scheduled Hearings on the following dates for the complaint to be heard. 9th November 2016 1st February 2017 13th March 2017 and 26th April 2017. In the first three instances the Complainant successfully applied in advance of the Hearings to the WRC Office for an adjournment. The Complainant was notified of the April 26th 2017 Hearing on March 22nd 2017. She applied to the WRC office for an adjournment for that Hearing on April 24th 2017 on the basis she had a medical certificate covering the period from April 24th 2017 to May 3rd 2017. This request was refused by the WRC on the basis it was not exceptional circumstances or substantial reasons and on the basis of fair procedure to both parties. On the day of the Hearing the Complainant, who was assisted by a Relative, sought an adjournment at the commencement of the Hearing on the basis “her Doctors certificate says she is unfit to attend the Hearing.” The Complainant was asked by the Adjudicator to present the Doctors Certificate to the Adjudicator and she presented a Doctors Certificate, which was undated, which stated she was unit for work from April 24th 2017 to May 3rd 2017 due to a Chest Infection. The Respondent then questioned the legality of the Proceedings continuing as they submitted the claim was out of time under the Act and that the Adjudicator had no legal powers to either proceed with the case or adjourn the Hearing. |
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.
At the commencement of the Hearing the Complainant made a request to the Adjudicator for the Hearing to be adjourned. The matter of whether to grant an adjournment or not is the within the remit of the Adjudicator. However, at the Hearing the question of the Adjudicators jurisdiction to hear the case was questioned by the Respondent on the basis that the claim was out of time under the Act. Therefore, as the Adjudicator, the first issue I had to decide was whether I had jurisdiction to hear the case at all under the Act prior to deciding on the Complainants request for an adjournment.
The Complainant submitted her claim to the WRC on June 28th 2016 and stated the date of her penalisation commenced when she was suspended on June 12th 2015 (a copy of the Suspension letter was provided to the Adjudicator to confirm this date).
Section 41.6 of the 2015 Workplace Relations Act states the following” Subject to Section (8), and adjudication officer shall not entertain a complaint referred to him or her under this section if it has been presented to the Director General after the expiration of the period of 6 month beginning on the date of the contravention to which the complaint relates “.
Section 41.8 of the 2015 Workplace Relations Act states the following” An adjudication officer may entertain a complaint or dispute to which this section applies presented or referred to the Director General after the expiration of the period referred to in subsection (6) or(7) (but no later than 6 months after such expiration) as the case may be, if he or she is satisfied that the failure to present the complaint ore refer the dispute within that period was due to reasonable cause. “
As the claim was submitted on June 28th 2016 and the date of the alleged contravention to which the beginning of the complaint relates was June 12th 2015, I am prohibited by the above sections of the Act, (Sec 41.6 and Sec 41.8) to deal with the claim as I have no jurisdiction to do so as the claim was submitted out of time under the Act as the date of the contravention to which the complaint relates to began over twelve months before the claim was submitted to the WRC. The claim is dismissed accordingly as I have no jurisdiction to “entertain the complaint” ( Sec 41.6) and therefore I also have no jurisdiction to consider the request for an adjournment, which although a moot point given that the claim was submitted out of time, would not have been granted by the Adjudicator on the basis that the Complainant had received three previous adjournments and the grounds submitted at the start of the Hearing to support the request for the adjournment did not amount to either exceptional circumstances or substantial grounds to grant a further adjournment.
Dated: 30 May 2017
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Peter O'Brien
Key Words:
Penalisation |