ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00014274

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Anonymised Parties	Sales Assistant	Coffee Shop

Complaint:

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997	CA-00018622-001	20/04/2018

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 02/07/2018

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Penelope McGrath

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41(4) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and following the presentation by an employee of a complaint of a contravention by an employer of an Act contained in Schedule 5 of the Workplace Relations Act of 2015, made to the Director General and following a referral by the said Director General of this matter to the Adjudication services, I can confirm that I have fulfilled my obligation to make all relevant inquiries into the complaint or complaints. I have additionally and where appropriate heard the oral evidence of the parties and their witnesses and have taken account of the evidence tendered.

In particular, the Complainant herein has referred one complaint:

The Complaint herein relates to a contravention of The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 and in particular to a contravention under Section 19 of the Act which sets out those circumstances which give rise to annual leave entitlements. So that an Employee becomes entitled to Annual leave equal to:

4 weeks in a leave year in which the Employee has worked 1365 or more;

1/3 of a working week in each month that the Employee has worked in excess of 177 hours;

8% of the hours worked up to 4 working weeks

Pursuant to Section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 (as amended), a decision of an adjudication officer as provided for under Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act shall do one or more of the following:

(i) Declare the complaint was or was not well founded;

(ii) Require the Employer to comply with the relevant provision;

(iii) Require the employer to pay to the employee compensation of such amount as is just and equitable having regard to all the circumstances but not exceeding 2 years remuneration.

The Adjudication Officer must be aware of applicable time limits and in this regard, the Workplace Relations Act specifies at Section 41 (6) that (subject to s.s.8) an Adjudication Officer shall not entertain a complaint referred to said Adjudication Officer after the expiration of the period of six months beginning on the date of the contravention to which the Complaint relates.

Section 41 (8) specifies that the Adjudication Officer may entertain a Complaint or dispute to which section 41 applies after the expiration of the six month period referred to in ss. (6) and (7) – though not later than a further six months after the initial expiration as the case may be - if the Adjudication Officer is satisfied that the failure to present the complaint or refer the dispute within that period was due to reasonable cause.

Background:

The Complainant worked for a year with the Respondent company which operates a number of Coffee and Donut outlets.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

At the end of her employment the Complainant was entitled to two weeks of Annual leave. This was acknowledged in the final payslip received by the Complainant which showed her basic pay at €224.00 and the Holiday pay at €776.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The Respondent did not appear to give evidence. I am satisfied the Respondent was on Notice and that a letter confirming the hearing date went out on the 11th of June 2018.

Findings and Conclusions:

I have carefully considered the evidence as presented to me by the Complainant. The Complainant had worked with the Respondent for just over a year. The employment relationship came to an end in February of 2018 at which time the Complainant was owed two weeks annual leave. The Complainant’s last payslip, which she showed to me, discloses a holiday payment in the sum of €776.00 being due and owing.

The Complainant indicated that she had difficulty getting her basic pay paid once she had left the employment. In fact, the Complainant described having to attend her place of work on two separate occasions seeking payment and was given small cash payments to cover the basic pay as well as a small amount of holiday pay.

I accept the Complainant’s calculations as presented to me and find her claim to be well founded and find that the Respondent should pay compensation to the Complainant.

Decision:

Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.

I find in favour of the Complainant and I require the employer to pay to the employee compensation in the sum of €700.00 which I believe to be just and equitable having regard to all the circumstances.

Dated: 14th August 2018

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Penelope McGrath