ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISIONS
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00009383
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | An aircraft maintenance engineer | An Employer |
Representatives | None | A&L Goodbody Solicitors |
Complaint:
Act | Complaint Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 | CA-00012057-001 | 22/06/2017 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 | CA-00012061-001 | 22/06/2017 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 25/05/2018
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Kevin Baneham
Procedure:
On the 22nd June 2016, the complainant referred complaints pursuant to the Terms of Employment (Information) Act to the Workplace Relations Commission. The complaints were scheduled for adjudication on the 25th May 2018 and were heard along with other complaints referred by the complainant (subject to reports in ADJ 9147 and ADJ 9150).
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 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 complaint.
Background:
The complainant’s employment with the respondent ended in July 2013. He asserts that the respondent failed to supply him with a statement of the terms of his employment and failed to notify him of a change to the terms. The respondent asserts that the complaints are out of time. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The complainant asserts that he was not provided with a statement of his terms of employment and was not informed of a change in the terms of his employment. They are breaches of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act. The complainant outlined that a collective agreement was drawn up in 2009 and a new contract of employment was to be issued to staff. He never received these documents and would have asked his managers and the company secretary for the documents. On the day of the adjudication, he signed and dated a contract of employment of the 9th October 2007. The respondent had provided him with this document in 2007. The complainant said that in 2009, it was only those who transferred to the airline who received new contracts. In respect of the respondent’s letter of the 19th December 2016, the complainant outlined that the collective agreement provided that a new contract of employment would be issued, which did not happen. The complainant said that the respondent’s letter of December 2016 refers to not having to issue a new contract and just to reinstating the complainant. The complainant said that a new contract would have disclosed the role of the airline. The significance of not having a new contract only became clear in the subsequent judicial review proceedings. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The respondent submits that the complainant’s employment ended in on the 3rd July 2013. Given that the complaints were referred to the WRC in June 2016, there are substantially out of time. The respondent submitted that there was no effect in the complainant signing the contract on the day of the adjudication. He had previously worked under this contract and accepted it. It further stated that its letter of December 2016 changed nothing. |
Findings and Conclusions:
Section 3 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act requires an employer to furnish to the employee with a statement of their terms of employment within two months of the commencement of the employment. Where no statement is provided, there is a subsisting breach during the course of the employment. Where the employment ends, the employee has six months after the end of the employment to refer a complaint, extendable to 12 months with reasonable cause. The employee has the same limitation period to seek redress for a contravention of section 5 (notification of a change to the terms of employment). The complainant asserts that there has been a failure to notify him of a change to his terms of employment (CA-00012061) and a failure to provide him with a statement of the terms of his employment (CA-00012057). The complainant was made redundant on the 3rd July 2013. He had been made redundant in 2009 but was reinstated by Order the Circuit Court on the 22nd April 2013. Following his reinstatement and the payment of back pay, the respondent made him redundant. In these circumstances, any complaint regarding compliance with the Terms of Employment (Information) Act should have been referred within six or 12 months of the date the complainant’s employment ended. The complainant disputes the contents of the respondent’s letter of the 19th December 2016 and the respondent’s assertion that it has complied with the Order of the 22nd April 2013. Even if the respondent is incorrect in this regard, this does not create a new cause of action pursuant to the Terms of Employment (Information) Act. The complaints are, therefore, not well founded as they are made outside of the time limitation period set out in section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act and applicable to such complaints. |
Decisions:
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.
CA-00012057-001 I find that the complaint is not well founded as it was made outside of the limitation period set out by section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act and applicable to complaints made pursuant to the Terms of Employment (Information) Act. CA-00012061-001 I find that the complaint is not well founded as it was made outside of the limitation period set out by section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act and applicable to complaints made pursuant to the Terms of Employment (Information) Act. |
Dated: September 4th 2018
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Kevin Baneham
Key Words:
Terms of Employment (Information) Act / limitation period |