ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00015181
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | Retail Health care advisor | Retail pharmacy |
Representatives | Aisling McDevitt IBEC |
Complaints:
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-00019712-001 | 05/06/2018 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 | CA-00019712-002 | 05/06/2018 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 30/08/2018
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Marguerite Buckley
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 following the referral of the complaint(s) to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint(s) and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint(s).
Background:
The Complainant is a health care advisor for a pharmacy. The Complainant was engaged by the Respondent since 2003. In November 2016 she went on sick leave and remained on sick leave until she was compulsorily retired. She gave evidence that the reason for her sick leave was on medical advice as a result of being bullied in the workplace. The facts of this claim are the same as the claim lodged under ADJ 13959. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
This is a claim under the Payment of Wages Act 1991. The substance of this compliant is that the Complainant was advised by a colleague to submit a complaint regarding the fact that she was forcibly retired on her 65th birthday which was the 7th of August 2017. The Complainant in her submission set out that she was to date in receipt of sick certs from her doctor for work related stress and she is on social welfare illness benefit and taking anti-depressants. This complaint was lodged on the 5th of June 2018. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The Respondent’s position is that the cognisant period for this complaint was from the 6th of December 2017. The Complainant had not been employed by the Respondent since the 7th of August 2017. The Respondent’s case is that the complaint was out of time. The Respondent confirmed that the Complainant had lodged an industrial relations complaint which was later withdrawn on the 6th of April 2017. The Respondent used this as evidence that the Complainant was not unaware of her employment law rights. The Respondent further set out that the Complainant had received advice from her union and that in an email of the 6th of May 2017 she set out she was copying her solicitor in an email exchange. The Complainant had also set out in an email dated 11th of April 2017 that her “nephew is a solicitor” and she wondered if she should now go to him with her case as she “retires at the beginning of August”. The Respondent’s case is that there was no reasonable cause to prevent any submission being made in accordance with the time limit 6 months from the date of the event in complaint. |
Findings and Conclusions:
I have considered all the documentation lodged by both the Complainant and the Respondent. This complaint was only lodged by the Complainant on the 5th of June 2018. The Complainant ceased as an employee of the Respondent on the 7th of August 2017. The Complainant was in receipt of advice from her union and she had access to legal representation. I can find no reasonable cause for extending the time limits for lodging a claim under this Act from six months to twelve months. In addition to the above, it would appear that the Complainant brought her claim under the wrong legislation. |
Decision:
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint(s) in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
The complaint was lodged out of time. I have no jurisdiction and the complaint fails. |
Dated: January 9th 2019
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Marguerite Buckley
Key Words:
Compulsory retirement. Time limits. Out of time. |