ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00015318
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | An Employee | A Crèche |
Complaint:
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 | CA-00019738-001 | 12/06/2018 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 13/12/2018
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Ray Flaherty
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and following the referral of the complaint to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint 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 worked for the Respondent, who runs a crèche, for about 5.8 years. The Complainant was on carers leave when the business ceased trading due to a fire in the premises. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The Complainant took a previous case to the WRC under the Redundancy Payments Act, the outcome of which allowed her to claim redundancy. The Complainant stated that when she received her redundancy payment she expected that it would include her months’ notice. However, the redundancy payment did not include the notice and this has resulted in the Complainant making this second complaint under the Payment of Wages Act, 1991, in relation to her notice payment. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The Respondent did not attend the hearing or make any other submission. |
Findings and Conclusions:
Section 41 (6) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 states as follows, in relation to time limits for submitting complaints: “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 six months beginning on the date of the contravention to which the complaint relates”. Section 41 (8) of the Act, as referred to in the above extract, states as follows: “An adjudication officer may entertain a complaint or 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 six 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 within the period was due to reasonable cause”. The Complainant’s employment was terminated on 31 March 2017. For the purpose of subsection (6), as quoted above, the date of contravention, to which the complaint relates, is therefore 31 March 2017. The Complainant’s claim was submitted on 12 June 2018, which is 14.5 months after the date of contravention. Therefore, I find that the complaint has been submitted beyond the time limits, of a maximum 12 months, as set out in subsection (8) of the Act above. Consequently, I have no jurisdiction to hear the complaint. |
Decision:
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
Having carefully considered all of the evidence adduced and based on the considerations/findings as detailed above, I find that the complaint is outside the time limits set down in the Workplace Relations Act 2015 and is, therefore, rejected. |
Dated: February 5th 2019
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Ray Flaherty
Key Words:
Payment of Wages Notice Redundancy |