ADJ-00009264

ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION/RECOMMENDATION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00009264

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Parties	An employee	A manufacturing company

Complaint(s):

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-00012028-001	20/06/2017

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 05/10/2017

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Jim Dolan

Procedure:

The hearing of this matter was arranged to take place on Thursday 5^th October 2017 at 10.00am in the offices of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), Lansdowne Road, Dublin 4. The complainant attended as scheduled, the respondent did not attend.

Attempts were successfully made to contact the respondent by telephone and he informed that the company had ceased trading and was going into liquidation.

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 following the referral of the complaint(s) to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint(s) and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint(s)

Background:

The complainant commenced work with the respondent company on 19^th October 1999. On 6^th June 2017 the complainant was informed that his job was being made redundant – he received none of his entitlement under the Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967 and did not receive the statutory notice or payment in lieu of such notice as prescribed in the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

He was made redundant from his job after almost 17 years’ service without being paid statutory entitlements under the Redundancy Payment s Acts 1967 and the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973.

On the day before the hearing, 4^th October 2017, the complainant received a letter from the respondent that read as follows:

“Notice is hereby given, pursuant to section 587(1) of the Companied Act 2014, that meeting of the creditors of the company will be held at the Harcourt Hotel, Harcourt Street, Dublin 2 on 16^th October 2017 at 9.00am for the purposes mentioned in sections 587 and 588 of the said Act.”

The letter went on to name the liquidator and a copy of the creditors of the company was attached. The complainants name appeared on the list of creditors.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

Respondent did not attend.

Findings and Conclusions:

There is no doubt that the complainant is entitled to his statutory entitlements under both the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 and the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973.

Decision:

Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 – 2012 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under that Act.

Based on dates and figures provided by the complainant (uncorroborated) I calculate that he is entitled to a redundancy payment of €11,260.26 and a payment in lieu of notice of €2,481.60. Such payments should be made within 42 days from the date of this recommendation.

Dated: 23/11/17

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Jim Dolan

Key Words:

Redundancy payment, payment in lieu of notice.