ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference:
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | Operative | Employer |
Representatives |
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Complaint(s):
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
CA-00024987-001 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing:
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer:
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 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 is seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994, and has submitted that he never got a contract of employment (CA-00024987-001). |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The Complainant was employed as a general operative on the 17th April 2015. The Complainants gross pay was €500.00 per week for 40 hours worked. The Complainant in the course of his evidence stated that he did not receive any contract of employment upon commencing his employment. The Complainants employment continued until the 1st August 2018 whereupon he indicated he would be resigning his position. However, following discussion with his Manager he commenced a new contract of employment wherein he would undertake other responsibilities but did not receive a contract of employment in this instance. The WRC acknowledged receipt of the complaint herein on the 13th January 2019. The Respondent Company were informed of this complaint on the 16th January 2019. The Complainant indicated in the course of his evidence that upon lodging this Complaint he then received a contract of employment form the Respondent Company dated the 14th January 2019 and this is the only contract of employment he has ever been provided with.
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Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The Respondent Company conceded that they could not provide or have in their possession a copy of the written statement of the Complainants terms of employment and could not confirm if he had ever been provided with same upon commencing employment. The Respondent Company indicated that the ownership of the company changed in or about June or July of 2018. It was further accepted that the responsibilities of the Complainant changed in or about the 1st of August 2018, but the Respondent Company could not provide or have in their possession a copy of the written statement of the Complainants new terms of employment and could not confirm if he had ever been provided with same. However, they did confirm he had been provided with an employee’s handbook. Ultimately, it was accepted that the Complainant was provided with a written statement of his terms of employment dated the 14th January following the lodgement of this Complaint herein.
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Findings and Conclusions:
In the circumstances of this matter, I have carefully listened to the evidence tendered in the course of this hearing by both parties. The Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994-2014, provides that an employer is obliged to provide and employee with a written statement of terms of employment within the first 2 months of the commencement of employment. Specifically, Section 3 (1) provides: 3.—(1) An employer shall, not later than 2 months after the commencement of an employee’s employment with the employer, give or cause to be given to the employee a statement in writing containing the following particulars of the terms of the employee’s employment, that is to say— and Section 7 (2) provides: 7 (2) A decision of an adjudication officer under section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 in relation to a complaint of a contravention of section 3, 4, 5 or 6 shall do one or more of the following, namely— (a) declare that the complaint was or, as the case may be, was not well founded, (b) either— (i) confirm all or any of the particulars contained or referred to in any statement furnished by the employer under section 3, 4, 5 or 6, or (ii) alter or add to any such statement for the purpose of correcting any inaccuracy or omission in the statement and the statement as so altered or added to shall be deemed to have been given to the employee by the employer, (c) require the employer to give or cause to be given to the employee concerned a written statement containing such particulars as may be specified by the adjudication officer, (d) order the employer to pay to the employee compensation of such amount (if any) as the adjudication officer considers just and equitable having regard to all of the circumstances, but not exceeding 4 weeks’ remuneration in respect of the employee’s employment calculated in accordance with regulations under section 17 of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 In the circumstances of this case, I am satisfied that the Respondent Company did not provide the Complainant with a written statement of his terms of employment pursuant to Section 3 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act , 1994-2014. In that regard I acknowledge the concessions made by the Respondent Company in the course of their evidence. Accordingly, pursuant to Section 7(2)(a) I declare that the Complaint is well founded and accordingly pursuant to Section 7(2) (d) order the Respondent Company to pay to the Complainant compensation of €500.00 which I consider just and equitable having regard to all of the circumstances.
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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.
I find that the Complaint (CA-00024987-001) is well founded and order the Respondent Company to pay €500.00 to the Complainant. |
Dated: 28 May 2019
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer:
Key Words:
Terms of Employment |