Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A Complainant

A Catering Services Company

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997

CA-00020060-001

27/06/2018

The complainant submitted a complaint on 27th of June 2018.   This complaint related to an allegation that he did not receive his annual leave entitlement or payment in lieu thereof.   I proceed to a hearing of this matter on 5th of November 2018. The complainant attended the hearing. The respondent was not in attendance.  

The complainant submits that

he was employed by the respondent from 17th of March 2018 to 6th of May 2018,

he did not receive his annual leave entitlement or payment in lieu thereof.

The respondent did not attend the hearing. I am satisfied that the respondent was properly notified of the hearing.

Section 19(1) of the Act states:

Subject to the First Schedule (which contains transitional provisions in respect of the leave years 1996 to 1998), an employee shall be entitled to paid annual leave (in this Act referred to as “annual leave”) equal to –

(a)    4 working weeks in a leave year in which he or she works at least 1, 365 hours (unless it is a leave year in which he or she changes employment),

(b)    one-third of a working week for each month of the leave year in which he or she works at least 117 hours, or

(c)     8 per cent of the hours he or she works in a leave year (but subject to a maximum of 4 working weeks):

Provided that if more than one of the preceding paragraphs is applicable in the case concerned and the period of annual leave of the employee, determined in accordance with each of these paragraphs, is not identical, the annual leave to which the employee shall be entitled shall be equal to whichever of those periods is the greater.

The complainant advised the hearing that the respondent refused to pay him for his untaken annual leave from 2017. He told the hearing that he had asked the respondent about taking his annual leave in 2017. He stated that he had asked about taking this leave in November and December 2017 but that the respondent refused this as Christmas was approaching and it was too busy. The complainant told the hearing that the respondent had advised him that he could take the 2017 annual leave in 2018 instead. The complainant stated that he had agreed to this.

The complainant stated that every time he mentioned the outstanding annual leave to the respondent after that it was either ignored or postponed.    The complainant advised the hearing that he left the respondents employment in May 2018. The complainant stated that the respondent refused to pay him for his outstanding annual leave from 2017 with the excuse that due to a change in one of the partners the amount the complainant was due was not the companies concern any longer.

The complainant advised the hearing that he was owed €478 in lieu of the annual leave not taken. The respondent did not attend the hearing of the claim. I am satisfied that the respondent was properly notified of the hearing.

I am satisfied from the uncontested evidence of the complainant that his claim in respect of his annual leave entitlement is well founded and I order the respondent to pay the complainant the sum of €478 as payment in lieu of annual leave.

I find that this complaint is well founded and I order the respondent to pay the complainant €478 in respect of annual leave.