Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A Night Porter

An Hotel

Representatives

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977

CA-00018462-001

11/04/2018

The complainant was given no notice that he was being dismissed. He was simply asked by a colleague to collect an envelope which contained his p45 and wages for the week he had worked.

The complainant commenced his employment with a respondent on the 17/06/ 2010. In 2017 the complainant’s employment transferred to the respondent via a transfer of undertakings. The new director of the company was the son of the previous director. The complainant had had issues with him in the past. He stated that at every opportunity the new director would give out to him about anything and everything. However, he was never issued with a warning either verbal or written. Out of the blue on the 16th of March 2018 he got a call from a colleague to come to the hotel to collect an envelope. In the envelope was €380 in cash and the complainant’s P45.   He was given no notice that he was being dismissed. He was not given any reasons for the dismissal.

The complainant submitted extensive documentation in relation to his efforts to find employment. He has not been successful to date.

No Appearance.

The complainant was given no notice that he was being dismissed. He was given no reason for the dismissal. He wasn’t even informed verbally by his employer. He was simply asked to come in a collect an envelope which contained his p45 and cash.

Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 Section 6.—(1) “Subject to the provisions of this section, the dismissal of an employee shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be an unfair dismissal unless, having regard to all the circumstances, there were substantial grounds justifying the dismissal.”

In Sheehan v Continental Administration Co Ltd (UD858/1999) the EAT stated, “a claimant who finds himself out of work should employ a reasonable amount of time each weekday in seeking work. It is not enough to inform agencies that you are available for work nor merely to post an application to various companies seeking work. The time that a claimant finds on his hands is not his own, unless he chooses it to be, but rather to be profitably employed in seeking to mitigate his loss”.

I find that the employer breached the complainants right to a fair process and there were no grounds, substantial or otherwise to justify the dismissal.

I am satisfied that the complainant has made extensive efforts to mitigate his loss based on the documentation submitted at the hearing.

In all of the circumstances, I find in favour of the complainant and award him compensation in the amount of €16,000.00