ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00015814
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | Child Care Practitioner | Child Care Provider |
Complaint(s):
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 | CA-00020551-001 | 15/07/2018 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 05/03/2019
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Emer O'Shea
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 [and/or 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).
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The claimant was employed as a Child Care Practitioner with the respondent from the 23.09.2013 to the 18.01.2018 when she submitted she was unfairly dismissed.The claimant described a number of operational issues that arose regarding the cleaning and maintenance of one of the sessional/aftercare rooms. Both the claimant and another staff member raised complaints about the room with the manager Ms.S.L. She set out the chronology of events leading to conflict in the workplace resulting in the claimant taking sick leave in Nov. 2017.The claimant submitted that on the 5th.Jan. 2018 , she met with the manager who told her that she had had enough of her and was yelling at her. On the 15th.Jan. 2018 , the claimant again met with the manager – the manager indicated that she was aware that the claimant’s daughter would not be attending preschool at the crèche and stated that she would like to know when the claimant was leaving. The claimant said that she was very upset and this had come out of nowhere. The claimant was summoned to a meeting on the 18th.January – the claimant asserted that at this meeting the manager denied everything she had said previously and told the claimant that she was angry with her for not attending a staff meeting in November 2017.The claimant submitted that the manager proceeded to tell her to leave the employment “ due to staff relations”.The claimant submitted that she had a blemish free work record , had worked to the best of her ability and been flexible about working late It was submitted that the claimant obtained alternative employment 2 weeks later .It was submitted that the claimant incurred a loss of 2 weeks pay and had an ongoing loss of 30 Euros per week.It was submitted that in total the extent of the claimant’s loss if factoring in 104 weeks loss amounted to 4,323.92 Euros. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The respondent did not attend and was not represented at the hearing. |
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 reviewed the evidence presented at the hearing and noted that the respondent failed to attend the hearing. On the basis of the uncontested evidence of the claimant , I find the claimant was dismissed without affording her rights to natural justice and fair procedures and accordingly , I am upholding the complaint of unfair dismissal. I require the respondent to pay the claimant 2,500 Euros compensation.
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Dated: 30/05/19
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Emer O'Shea