ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00013961
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | A Welder | A Construction Sub-contractor |
Complaint:
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-00018350-001 | 06/04/2018 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 22/06/2018
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 – 2014, this complaint was assigned to me by the Director General. On June 22nd, 2018 I conducted a hearing and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaints.
The complainant attended on his own and was not represented. The respondent did not attend, although they were properly on notice of the time and date of the hearing.
Background:
The complainant is a welder and he worked with the respondent from 2008. In 2012, he was given a contract with a new company, but he said he worked for the same people from 2008 until December 24th, 2017 when all the employees were informed that the company would cease trading. His complaint is that he did not receive a redundancy payment. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
At the hearing, the complainant submitted a letter from the managing director dated December 24th, 2017 in which he informed him that the company “is ceasing to trade, due to a lack of payment of overdue accounts from one of its main customers.” The managing director also confirmed that “all employees are made redundant.” The letter also stated: “There will be a meeting held around the 12th of January to explain the next steps and this date will be confirmed. I can confirm, where applicable, statutory redundancies and holiday pay will be maintained and paid to you in due course.” The complainant said that when he heard nothing about a meeting, he contacted the managing director after January 12th, 2018. In response, he received an e mail from a person who worked in the office in which she confirmed that the company was going into liquidation. She said that the “timescale of this process is a little unclear” as the managing director had become ill. The e mail concluded as follows: “I understand that this is a difficult time and I can only ask that you bear with us for a little longer. Once again, I apologise for the delay and assure you that I will give you updates as information is received.” As the complainant received no further information, and no redundancy payment, on April 6th 2018, he submitted a complaint to the WRC. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The respondent did not attend the hearing. |
Findings and Conclusions:
Section 7 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 sets out five specific circumstances in which an employee may be entitled to a redundancy payment, the first of which is: “(a) the fact his employer has ceased or intends to cease to carry on the business for the purpose of which the employee was employed by him, or has ceased or intends to cease to carry on that business in the place where the employee was so employed,” As the complainant’s employer has ceased operations in the place where he was employed, his job has become redundant. |
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.
Subject to his PRSI contribution status, I have decided that the complainant is entitled to a statutory redundancy payment. |
Dated: 15th August 2018
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Key Words:
Redundancy, liquidation |