ADJ-00021010

Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A Fabricator

An Ironworks Company

Act

Complaint/Dispute 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-00027628-001

09/04/2019

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 11 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973

CA-00027628-003

09/04/2019

The Complaint claimed he did not receive a written contract of employment or did not receive his legally entitled notice payment of one week.

The Complainant was employed as a Fabricator on April 12^th, 2018 on a full-time basis and worked 40 hours a week and earned 510 Euros net per week.  His employment ceased on December 21^st 2018.

The Complainant never received any written terms and conditions of employment in breach of Section 3 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 which requires an employer to give an employee a written statement of terms of employment within two months of commencing employment.

The Complainants employment with the Respondent came to an end in December 2018. The Complainant stated that his employment was terminated without notice by one of the co-owners following a disagreement over the specification of a gate. The Complainant was told to pack his things and leave. The Complainant spoke to the other co-owner who attempted to resolve the situation, but the Complainant was not willing to return to his position. The Complainant was furnished with his P45 and the pay that was owed plus four days holiday pay along with a Christmas voucher for 100 Euros. However, the Complainant was not furnished with one weeks’ notice or paid his one weeks’ notice as per Section 4.2 (a) of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973.

The Respondent accepts that they did not furnish the Complainant with a written statement of terms of employment at any stage.

The Respondent stated that the Complainant handed in his notice to leave for another job after Christmas. The Respondent was sorry to see him go and they shook hands and the Complainant left on good terms. The Respondent paid the Complainant what he was due. The Respondent stated there were two witnesses to the Complainant handing in his notice. The Respondent said he always treated staff well and was very flexible with time off for personal matters.  The Respondent stated the company was currently having financial difficulties.

The Respondent stated he did not give the Complainant any written terms of employment but had a verbal conversation with him about them. This is in breach of Section 3.1 of the Act which states       ”An employer shall not later than two monthsafter the commencement of an employees employment with the employer, give or give cause to be given to the employee a statement in writing containing the following particulars of the employees employment”... Therefore, I find the claim well founded, as the Respondent admitted he was in breach of Section 3.1 of the 1994 Terms of Employment (Information) Act and I award the Complainant 2,040 Euros for the breach of this Act. (CA-00027628-001)

With regard to the claim for one weeks notice pay, the Respondent stated that the Complainant left of his own accord, left on good terms, he left to go to a new job which he was starting immediately after Christmas and no notice was due. However, the Complainant stated at the Hearing that he was told to pack his things and leave and did not start work again until May 2019. The Respondent stated there were two witnesses to the Complainant handing in his notice but these witnesses were not presented at the Hearing so their evidence is only hearsay. Having considered both versions of events I prefer the evidence of the Complainant based on the fact he did nto start work again until May 2019 and find the claim well founded and award him 510 Euros for breach of Section 4.2 (a)  of the of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973 which states, that an employer must give an employee  with over thirteen weeks continuous service ,  “The minimum noticeto be given by an employer to terminate the contract of employment of his employee shall be (a) If the employee has been in the continuous service of his employer for less than two years, a week”.CA-00027628-003.