ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00008806
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | Hotel worker | Dissolved hotel 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-00011460-001 | 22/05/2017 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 11 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973 | CA-00011460-002 | 22/05/2017 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 01/09/2017
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Marguerite Buckley
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 and Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2014 following the referral of the complaints to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaints and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaints.
Background:
The Complainant was a hotel staff worker. The Respondent traded as a hotel.
The Respondent was a private company limited by shares. It was registered in 1983 and at the hearing date its status on the CRO register was noted as “dissolved”.
The effective date of dissolution was the 17th of August 2016. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The Complainant lodged her case with the Workplace Relations on the 22nd of May 2017.
She claimed a redundancy payment and minimum notice payment. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
No attendance. |
Findings and Conclusions:
I have reviewed the definition of employer under the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 and the evidence of the Complainant given to me at the hearing. I note that the Respondent company was not dissolved until employment ended. The hotel closed around the August bank holiday in 2016. The effective date of dissolution of the company as per the CRO register was the 17th of August 2016.
It appears to me that the Respondent was the sole employer of the Complainant.
When a company is dissolved, it ceases to have any legal existence and its assets vest in the Minister for Finance by virtue of Section 28 of the State Property Act 1954.
I am obliged to consider the status of the company at the date of the hearing. It is without doubt that at the date of the hearing 1st of September 2017 the company was not in existence by reason of dissolution.
Regrettable as it may be, I see no basis on which I can proceed to give a decision against a dissolved company in the absence of an express statutory power to do so. |
Decision:
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaints in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
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.
I have no jurisdiction and must dismiss the complaints accordingly. |
Dated: 19th April 2018
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Marguerite Buckley
Key Words:
Dissolved company, jurisdiction |