ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00017908
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | Services Provider | Healthcare Support 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-00023098-001 | 08/11/2018 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 19/02/2019
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Penelope McGrath
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 8 (1)(a) of the Unfair Dismissals Act of 1977 (as substituted) and where a claim for redress under the Unfair Dismissals legislation is being made the claim is referred to the Director General of the Workplace Relations Commission who in turn refers any such claim to an Adjudication Officer, so appointed, for the purpose of having the said claim heard in the manner prescribed in Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and in particular the said Adjudication Officer is obliged to make all relevant inquiries into the complaint. The Adjudication Officer will additionally and where appropriate hear all relevant oral evidence of the parties and their witnesses and will take into account any and all documentary or other evidence which may be tendered in the course of the hearing.
The evidential burden of truth rests with the Respondent. Per Section 6(6)of the 1977 Act, in determining for the purposes of the Acts whether or not a dismissal of an employee was an unfair dismissal or not it shall be for the employer to show that the dismissal resulted wholly or mainly from one or other of the specified grounds (as outlined in the Act – conduct, redundancy etc.), or that there were other substantial reasons justifying the dismissal.
Also, an Adjudication Officer must, in determining if a dismissal is unfair, have regard to the reasonableness or otherwise of the conduct (whether by act or omission) of the employer in relation to the dismissal (per Section 7).
In this particular instance, and in circumstances where the Complainant herein has referred a complaint of having been unfairly dismissed form his place of employment wherein he had worked for in excess of one year and where the Workplace Relations Complaint Form (dated the 8th of November 2018) issued within six months of his dismissal, I am satisfied that I (an Adjudication Officer so appointed) have jurisdiction to hear the within matter
Background:
The Complainant has made a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission that he was unfairly dismissed on the 28th of June 2018. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The Complainant’s representation provided me with a comprehensive written submission and I heard from the Complainant in person. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The Respondent did not attend the hearing and I am satisfied that the Respondent entity was notified of the hearing date by WRC communication dated the 24th of January 2019. |
Findings and Conclusions:
I have carefully listened to the Complainant’s evidence and to the submissions made on his behalf. The Complainant worked for more than two years with the Respondent entity and was involved with the organisation and provision of facilities and care programmes for acutely vulnerable patients of the state medical providers. The Complainant travelled all around the country in his role of providing these appropriate care, facilities and support programmes. The Complainant received a salary of circa €4,333.00 per month. In May of 2018 the Complainant was advised by his immediate superiors Mr. M that an issue had arisen and that the Complainant was, in effect, being suspended with pay for a week. The Complainant said that he was told a number of people had made complaints about him and that there also appeared to be an issue with car rental facilities being abused. The Complainant never again attended the workplace and was advised by Mr. M on the phone some ten days later on the 18th of May that he could not return to the workplace. Then on the 28th of June 2018 the Complainant was summarily dismissed without cause shown or reason given. I note that the Complainant was due to be paid at the end of June for that month and should also have been paid his annual leave in line with the date of termination. Whilst the Complainant was provided with a payslip showing these figures were payable, all of the Complainant’s salary was withheld to discharge a loan which had been earlier given to the Complainant in the course of his employment. I understand the Complainant did not give his consent for this deduction in his salary. The Complainant explained that he was given no opportunity to defend himself, or even be included in any investigation or disciplinary process which gave rise to the decision to terminate his employment. There is no correspondence to explain what has happened and as no person has turned up to represent the Respondent’s position, the Complainant’s evidence has not been rebutted or contradicted. I am satisfied therefore that this constitutes an Unfair Dismissal as the Employer’s conduct is wholly unreasonable. The Complainant has found alternative employment as a social care worker having been out of work for four months and I note that his current salary is €1,021.00 less than the salary he commanded in the Respondent’s employment. Where an employee has been dismissed and the dismissal is found to be unfair the employee shall be entitled to redress pursuant to Section 7 of the 1977 Act. Such redress might include re-instatement, re-engagement or compensation for any financial loss attributable to the dismissal where compensation for such loss does not exceed 104 weeks remuneration. The acts, omissions and conduct of both parties will be taken into account when considering the extent of the financial loss and there is an onus on a Complainant to adopt measures to mitigate the loss. I am satisfied the Complainant has made every effort to mitigate losses. |
Decision:
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.
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 - CA-00023098-001 - Having found in favour of the Complainant I award €12,500.00 |
Dated: 01/05/19
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Penelope McGrath