Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A Counter Assistant

A Post Office/Shop

Representatives

In person

Did not attend

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-00030637-001

03/09/2019

The complainant was employed by the respondent as a Counter Assistant from 26th February 2012 until her employment ended on the 11th November 2018. The complaint was submitted to the Workplace Relations Commission on 3rd September 2019 and relates to an alleged breach of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967-2014.

The complainant stated that she was notified on 11th November 2018 that her position no longer existed as the respondent business had ceased trading. The complainant stated that she made numerous attempts to contact her former employer in order to seek her redundancy payment but was unsuccessful in doing so. The complainant is seeking her redundancy entitlements.

The respondent did not attend the adjudication hearing and was not represented.

I note that the respondent company was dissolved on 18th September 2019. This was confirmed by the respondent’s Solicitor in correspondence submitted to the WRC on 19th November 2019.

Redundancy entitlements

The entitlement to a redundancy payment is set out in Section 7 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 which states as follows:

7(1) An employee, if he is dismissed by his employer by reason of redundancy or is laid off or kept on short-time for the minimum period, shall, subject to this Act, be entitled to the payment of moneys which shall be known (and are in this Act referred to) as redundancy payment provided—

(a) he has been employed for the requisite period, and

(b) he was an employed contributor in employment which was insurable for all benefits under theSocial Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1966, immediately before the date of the termination of his employment, or had ceased to be ordinarily employed in employment which was so insurable in the period of four years ending on that date.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), an employee who is dismissed shall be taken to be dismissed by reason of redundancy if for one or more reasons not related to the employee concerned the dismissal is attributable wholly or mainly to—

(a) the fact that his employer has ceased, or intends to cease, to carry on the business for the purposes of which the employee was employed by him, or has ceased or intends to cease, to carry on that business in the place where the employee was so employed, or

(b) the fact that the requirements of that business for employees to carry out work of a particular kind in the place where he was so employed have ceased or diminished or are expected to cease or diminish, or

(c) the fact that his employer has decided to carry on the business with fewer or no employees, whether by requiring the work for which the employee had been employed (or had been doing before his dismissal) to be done by other employees or otherwise, or

(d) the fact that his employer has decided that the work for which the employee had been employed (or had been doing before his dismissal) should henceforward be done in a different manner for which the employee is not sufficiently qualified or trained, or

(e) the fact that his employer has decided that the work for which the employee had been employed (or had been doing before his dismissal) should henceforward be done by a person who is also capable of doing other work for which the employee is not sufficiently qualified or trained,

Having considered the complainant’s verbal submission, it is clear that her employment ended by reason of redundancy in line with the provisions of Section 7(2)(a) of the Act. Accordingly, I find that the complaint is well founded.

The complainant is entitled to a redundancy payment as follows:

Date of commencement of employment: 26th February 2012

Date of cessation of employment: 11th November 2018

Gross weekly rate of pay: €248.30

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.

Redundancy entitlements