ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00019963
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | A Supervisor | A Post Office/Shop |
Representatives | In person | Did not attend |
Complaints:
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 | CA-00026441-001 | 21/02/2019 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 | CA-00026441-002 | 21/02/2019 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 | CA-00026441-003 | 21/02/2019 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 30/07/2019
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Andrew Heavey
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2014 following the referral of the complaints to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaints and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaints.
Written notification of the Date, Time and Venue of the Adjudication hearing issued to the respondent from the WRC on 9th July 2019. On 29th July 2019 the letter was returned marked “Unknown at this address.”
Background:
The complainant was employed by the respondent as a Supervisor from 23rd March 2016 until 11th November 2018. The complaints submitted to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) on 21st February 2019 relate to an alleged breach of the Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967-2014 and alleged breaches of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 in respect of Annual Leave and Public Holiday entitlements In respect of the non-attendance of respondent and the return of the adjudication hearing notification letter, the complainant confirmed in evidence that the respondent remains in business at the same location and that her former employment is adjacent to the Post Office that remains in operation. The complainant also confirmed that the named person to whom the letter was addressed (Mrs SF – Manager) remains in business there and the letter would have been delivered to her at that address. In those circumstances the complainant asserts that there is no doubt in her view that the letter was initially received by the named addressee. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
CA-00026441-001 - Redundancy complaint In respect of her redundancy entitlements, the complainant contends that she was notified by text message after completing her shift on Sunday 11th November 2018 that her employment no longer existed. The complainant stated that she received no redundancy payment in line with her statutory entitlements. CA-00026441-002 – Annual Leave The complainant contends that she did not receive the entirety of her annual leave entitlements while in the employment of the respondent. The complainant contends that there is an outstanding annual leave entitlement due to her of €539.00. CA-00026441-003 – Public Holiday entitlements The complainant stated that she worked 3.6 hours on Monday 29th October 2018. The complainant stated that she was paid her basic hourly rate of pay for the work she carried out and did not receive her entitlements in respect of working on the Public Holiday. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The respondent did not attend the Adjudication hearing and was not represented. |
Findings and Conclusions:
I acknowledge that the letter issued to the respondent on 9th July 2019 was returned to the WRC on 29th July 2019 stating that the named addressee was “Unknown at this address”, However, the complainant gave compelling evidence that the named individual to whom the letter was addressed remains engaged in business at the location of the complainant’s former employment. I also note that previous correspondence issued to the same named individual at the same address on 25th February 2019 relating to these complaints appears not to have been returned to the WRC. CA-00026441-001 - Redundancy complaint I find that the complainant was dismissed by reason of redundancy on 11th November 2018. The complainant stated that she did not receive her redundancy entitlements after her employment was terminated by text message. I accept the complainant’s submission in that regard. CA-00026441-002 – Annual Leave The complaint was submitted to the WRC on 21st February 2019. The cognisable period of the complaint in respect of annual leave is from 1st April 2018 to 11th November 2018. On the basis of that 7 months and 11-day period, the complainant having received some annual leave entitlements contends that there is an outstanding annual leave entitlement due to her of €539.00. While it was not possible to obtain detailed records on this issue, the complainant stated that when subtracting the annual leave taken from the total entitlement for the period in question, the outstanding entitlement is €539.00. On that basis and in the absence of any records to prove the contrary, I find that the complaint is well founded. CA-00026441-003 – Public Holiday entitlements The complaint was submitted to the WRC on 21st February 2019. The cognisable period of the complaint relating to Public Holidays is 21st August 2018 – 21st February 2019. As the complainant’s employment ended on the 11th November 2018, there is one Public Holiday within the period 21st August 2018 – 11th November 2018. The complainant submitted a payslip which showed that she worked 3.6 hours on the Public Holiday in question. The payslip also shows that the worker was paid a basic rate of pay only for the hours worked. The complainant also contends that she did not receive any of the options for Public Holiday entitlements as provided for in Section 21 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997. |
Decision: Redundancy entitlements.
Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 – 2012 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under that Act.
CA-00026441-001 - Redundancy complaint The complaint is well founded. The complainant is entitled to a redundancy payment as follows: Date of commencement: 23rd March 2016 Date of termination: 11th November 2018 Gross weekly rate of pay: €358.01 The entitlement to a redundancy payment is based on the complainant having been in insurable employment within the meaning of the Social Welfare Acts, for the relevant period. |
Decisions: Annual Leave and Public Holiday entitlements.
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
CA-00026441-002 – Annual Leave The complainant contends that she is owed €539.00 in respect of annual leave entitlements. While the complainant did not have detailed records in relation to annual leave, she did accept that she had taken some annual leave during the period in question. As the only evidence available is the direct evidence of the complainant, I am satisfied that the complainant has an outstanding annual leave entitlement of €539.00 and that the complaint is well founded. The respondent is directed to pay the complainant €539.00 in respect of outstanding annual leave entitlements. CA-00026441-003 – Public Holiday entitlements. Having considered the complainant’s submission and evidence I am satisfied that the complainant did not receive the correct entitlements in respect of working on Monday 29th October 2018. Accordingly, the complaint is well founded. The respondent is directed to pay the complainant €34.38 in respect of Public Holiday entitlement plus an additional amount of €50.00 in compensation for the infringement of her employment rights. |
Dated: 12th November 2019
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Andrew Heavey
Key Words:
Redundancy entitlements, Annual Leave entitlement, Public Holiday entitlement |