Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A food and beverage supervisor

A hotel

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-00018693-001

19/04/2018

The complainant worked in the respondent’s hotel from March 22nd 2008 until January 7th 2018, when she was laid off. The hotel was subsequently closed down and this complaint is about the fact that the complainant has not received a redundancy payment.

The complainant explained that the hotel went into receivership on December 12th 2016, but that the staff were kept on and the hotel was operated as normal by the receivers. It was sold to the respondent on August 27th 2017 and traded for a number of months.   On January 2nd 2018, the employees were given a letter informing them that they would be laid off from January 7th until March 8th, so that the hotel could be refurbished. However, the hotel did not re-open and the staff issued counter-notices to the effect that they considered their jobs to be redundant.

Ten employees were affected by the closure and they completed RP50 forms to apply for a redundancy payment. They sent the forms by registered post to the head office of the respondent, but, for some reason, the letters were not delivered.

On May 4th 2018, the respondent invited the employees to a meeting. The HR Assistant explained that RP50 forms were not received by her and she asked the employees to complete them again. The staff were accompanied by a local councillor who advised them not to fill in the forms again.

For the respondent, the HR Assistant explained that the new owners found that revenue at the hotel was insufficient to continue trading and she agreed that the employees who were laid off on January 7th 2018 were entitled to redundancy. Correspondence sent to the complainant on May 1st 2018, indicates that, if the hotel opens again, the HR Assistant will contact the affected employees to offer them the opportunity to return to work.   She said that she has completed RP50 forms for each of the employees, but that the employees need to fill in their parts of the forms.

The respondent accepts that the employees who were laid off are entitled to a redundancy payment.   It was agreed at the hearing that the HR Assistant will send the forms which she has completed to each of the affected employees, for them to fill in their part. They will then send them to the company’s head office, and the HR Assistant will send them on to the Department of Social Protection.

I have decided that the complainant is entitled to a statutory redundancy payment in respect of her service with the respondent form March 22nd 2008 until January 7th 2018. As it was agreed at the hearing that RP50 forms will be completed by the complainant and the respondent, and I am satisfied, that, subject to the complainants PRSI status, she will receive her entitlement to a redundancy lump sum.

Redundancy payment