ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00023448

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Anonymised Parties	A Manager	A Waste Management Company

Complaint(s):

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-00029998-001	31/07/2019

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 10/10/2019

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Breiffni O'Neill

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015, and Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 – 2012, 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 commenced employment on 25th March 2002. On January 7th 2019, having returned from his holidays, he was offered a severance package during a meeting with the MD and the HR Manager. He subsequently received legal and tax advice surrounding this package, which was paid for by the Respondent, prior to signing an agreement on 30th January 2019.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The Complainant claimed that he was pressured into signing the severance agreement and did not have adequate time to process the decision. He also claimed that his legal advisors informed him that the Respondent wished to exit him from the company and would do so over time.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The Respondent’s representative disputed that the Complainant was dismissed and claimed that he availed of a voluntary redundancy package, having signed an agreement in full and final settlement of all claims due to him, following receipt of legal and tax advice. It was also claimed that the Complainant was informed that he could continue working with the Respondent if he did not wish to avail of the voluntary redundancy offer.

Findings and Conclusions:

On the basis of the evidence presented to me, I am satisfied that the Complainant signed a settlement agreement, having obtained the appropriate legal and tax advice, thereby waiving all sums due to him by the Respondent. In addition, I consider that, as there was a period of over three weeks between the initial offer being made and the agreement being signed, he had an adequate period of time to consider the decision. Accordingly, his claim is not well founded.

Decision:

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.

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.

This claim is not well founded.

Dated: 31-10-2019

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Breiffni O'Neill

Key Words:

Severance agreement;