ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00012799
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | A Car Technician | A Garage Owner |
Representatives | Marius Marosan |
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Complaint(s):
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-00016877-001 | 16/01/2018 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 24 of the National Minimum Wage Act, 2000 | CA-00016877-002 | 16/01/2018 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 | CA-00016877-004 | 16/01/2018 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 | CA-00016877-006 | 16/01/2018 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 | CA-00016877-007 | 16/01/2018 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 | CA-00016877-008 | 16/01/2018 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 15/11/2018
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Roger McGrath
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 - 2015, following the referral of the complaint(s)/dispute(s) to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint(s)/dispute(s) and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint(s)/dispute(s).
Background:
This case was the subject of three hearings. The Complainant worked as a car technician with the Respondent, a car garage owner, from January 2016 until May 2017. A complaint was lodged with the WRC on 16th January 2018. He was paid a gross weekly pay of €400. |
Preliminary Point- Time Limit
The Respondent’s representative put forward that as the employment relationship had ended on 13th May 2017 and the Complainant had not lodged a complaint with the WRC until the 16th January 2018 that all the claims were out of time.
The Complainant submitted that he had had to wait for a response from the Respondent and that he had had technical difficulties submitting the complaint form to the WRC.
Findings and Conclusions on Preliminary Point
CA-00016877-008 Sec 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Acts as amended by the National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Act 2015 states. “…where the adjudication officer is satisfied that the giving of the notice within the period rerferred to in paragraph (a) was prevented due to reasonable cause”. Therefore the benchmark is “reasonable” cause not exceptional cause. The Labour Court in the Cementation Skanska V Carroll DWT00338 (WTC0333) stated, “ in considering if reasonable cause exists it is for the complainant to show that there are reasons which both explains the delay and afford an excuse for the delay…In the context in which the expression reasonable cause appears in the statute it suggests an objective standard but it must be applied to the facts and the circumstances known to the complainant at the material time”
I have considered her reasons given and I do not accept that they constitute reasonable cause as they did not in my view afford an excuse for the delay or an explanation for the delay. I have decided not to grant the extension to the time limit. Therefore, I find that the claim was presented to the Commission 16th January 2018 and so it is clearly outside the time limit allowed in Sec 8 of this Act. I have decided that I do not have jurisdiction to hear this complaint.
CAs-00016877-001/002/004/006/007 The Workplace Relations Act, 2015, Section 41, states: “S 41.(6) subject to Subsection (8), an adjudication officer shall not entertain a complaint referred to him or her under this section if it has been presented to the Director General after the expiration of the period of 6 months beginning on the date of the contravention to which the complaint relates… (8) An adjudication officer may entertain a complaint or a dispute to which this section applies presented or referred to the Director General after the expiration of the period referred to in subsection (6) or (7) (but not later than 6 months after such expiration), as the case may be, if he or she is satisfied that the failure to present the complaint or refer the dispute in that period was due to reasonable cause.” I have considered her reasons given and I do not accept that they constitute reasonable cause as they did not in my view afford an excuse for the delay or an explanation for the delay. Therefore, I find that the claim under the other Acts was presented to the Commission 16th January 2018 and so it is clearly outside the time limit allowed in Sec 41 of this Act. I have decided that I do not have jurisdiction to hear this complaint.
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Decision:
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint(s)/dispute(s) in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 – 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the unfair dismissal claim consisting of a grant of redress in accordance with section 7 of the 1977 Act.
I have decided that I do not have jurisdiction to hear these complaints.
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Dated: 20th February 2019
orkplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Roger McGrath
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