Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A Supervisor

A Food Processing Company

Representatives

Not Represented

The Respondent did not attend the hearing or was not represented

Act

Complaint Reference No.

Date of Receipt

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

CA-00012859-001

29/07/2017

This complaint concerns a claim by the Complainant that she did not receive her statutory notice entitlements contrary to Section 4(2) of the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act 1973 when her employment was terminated by the Respondent by reason of redundancy.

The Complainant was employed by the Respondent from 1st August, 2005 until 6th March, 2017. She held the position of Supervisor and normally worked 33 hours per week and was paid at a rate of €12 per hour.

The Complainant’s employment was terminated by reason of redundancy on 6th March, 2017 without any prior notice following the closure of the plant where she was employed by the Respondent. The Complainant was offered alternative employment by the Respondent in another plant which was located approx. 200 kilometres from her existing workplace. However, she was not in a position to accept this offer due to the distance between the plant and her residence.

The Complainant contends that the Trade Union which represented employees in the company negotiated a deal with the Respondent that payment in lieu of the statutory notice entitlements would be made to relevant employees on a phased basis following the closure of the plant. The Complainant received payment in respect of two weeks’ notice from the Respondent in December, 2017. However, the Complainant claims that she is still due payment of a further four weeks’ pay in respect of her statutory notice entitlements.  

The Respondent did not attend the oral hearing in relation to this complaint. I confirmed that a letter had issued notifying the Respondent of the date, time and location of the hearing. In the circumstances, I find that the respondent’s non-attendance without any acceptable explanation to be unreasonable in the circumstances.

The Law

“Minimum period of notice

4.— (1) An employer shall, in order to terminate the contract of employment of an employee who has been in his continuous service for a period of thirteen weeks or more, give to that employee a minimum period of notice calculated in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section.

(2) The minimum notice to be given by an employer to terminate the contract of employment of his employee shall be—

               ………

(d) if the employee has been in the continuous service of his employer for ten years or more, but less than fifteen years, six weeks,

…….. ”

Based on the uncontested evidence of the Complainant, I find that the Complainant had in excess of 11 years’ service with the Respondent at the material time her employment was terminated on 7th March, 2017. Therefore, the Complainant had accrued a statutory entitlement to six weeks’ notice in accordance of the provisions of Section 4(2)(d) of the Act on the termination of her employment. I find that the Complainant was not afforded her statutory notice entitlement or payment in lieu thereof prior to the termination of her employment with the Respondent. I am satisfied that the Respondent has discharged payment to the Complainant in lieu of two weeks’ notice following the termination of her employment. Accordingly, I find that the Complainant is entitled to compensation in respect of a further four weeks’ notice in accordance with the aforementioned provisions of the Act.

I find that the complaint is well founded and in accordance with the provisions of Section 12(1) of the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973, I order the Respondent to pay to the Complainant the sum of €1,584.00 being the equivalent of 4 week’s pay as compensation for the breach of Section 4(2) of the Act.

Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act 1973 – Section 4(2) – Failure to provide statutory notice – Complaint well founded – Compensation awarded