Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A Process Operator

Manufacturing Company

Representatives

John Farrell IBEC South East

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 77 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998

CA-00028676-001

24/05/2019

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 14 of the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act, 2003

CA-00028676-005

24/05/2019

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 14 of the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act, 2003

CA-00028676-006

24/05/2019

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 14 of the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act, 2003

CA-00028676-007

24/05/2019

The Complainant is a process operator with the Respondent’s manufacturing business. She claims that she is being discriminated against with regards to her terms and conditions of employment, contrary to the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015. She also claims she is being treated less favourably as a fixed term worker, in her terms and conditions of employment, in comparison to permanent workers contrary to the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act, 2003. The Respondent asserts that the Adjudication Officer has no jurisdiction to hear the Complaints because the Complainant has not lodged a valid Employment Equality complaint nor is she a fixed-term worker, as is required to have standing under the Fixed Term workers legislation

Employment Equality Claim:

The Respondent submits that the Complainant has not chosen any protected ground upon which her complaint is based and therefore the Workplace Relations Commission does not have jurisdiction to hear the Complaint under the Employment Equality Acts.

Fixed Term Worked Act:

The Respondent submits that the legislation is enacted to protect the position of employees on fixed term contracts. The Employer contends that the Complainant has been employed on a ‘contract of indefinite duration’ since October 2018. A copy of this contract was produced. The Respondent submits that the Workplace Relations Commission does not have jurisdiction to hear the complaint under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work), 2003 as the Complainant was on a contract of indefinite duration at the time the complaint was submitted.

Employment Equality Complaint;

The Complainant accepts that she did not chose a protective ground under the Act as she believes that she was discriminated against, on grounds other than those specified in the Act.

Fixed Term Work Act:

The Complainant believes that she is a fixed term employee as she had refused to sign the contract of indefinite duration supplied by the Respondent in October 2018. She does accept that her last fixed term contract would have run out before then, and that she cannot show that she is currently on a fixed term contract.

Employment Equality Complaint:

The Employment Equality Act 1998 defines discrimination for the purposes of the Act at section 6.

6. Discrimination for the purposes of this Act

(1) For the purposes of this Act and without prejudice to its provisions relating to discrimination occurring in particular circumstances discrimination shall be taken to occur where—

(a) a person is treated less favourably than another person is, has been or would be treated in a comparable situation on any of the grounds specified in subsection (2) (in this Act referred to as the “discriminatory grounds”).

The discriminatory grounds referred to above are described at section subsection (2) as follows:

(2) As between any 2 persons, the discriminatory grounds (and the descriptions of those grounds for the purposes of this Act) are—

(a) that one is a woman and the other is a man (in this Act referred to as “the gender ground”),

(b) that they are of different [civil] status (in this Act referred to as “the [civil] status ground”),

(c) that one has family status and the other does not (in this Act referred to as “the family status ground”),

(d) that they are of different sexual orientation (in this Act referred to as “the sexual orientation ground”),

(e) that one has a different religious belief from the other, or that one has a religious belief and the other has not (in this Act referred to as “the religion ground”),

(f) that they are of different ages, but subject to subsection (3) (in this Act referred to as “the age ground”),

(g) that one is a person with a disability and the other either is not or is a person with a different disability (in this Act referred to as “the disability ground”),

(h) that they are of different race, colour, nationality or ethnic or national origins (in this Act referred to as “the ground of race”),

(i) that one is a member of the Traveller community and the other is not (in this Act referred to as “the Traveller community ground”).

The Complainant accepts that the discrimination she alleges does not come under any of the protected grounds under section 6(2) of the Act. I therefore find that her complaint under the Employment Equality Act, 1998 is not well founded as she has not chosen any discriminatory ground upon which she alleges discrimination, and therefore the complaint fails.

Fixed Term Work Act Complaints:

Section 2 of the Protection of Employees (Fixed -Term Work) act, 2003 describes a fixed term employee for the purposes of the Act as follows:

“fixed-term employee” means a person having a contract of employment entered into directly with an employer where the end of the contract of employment concerned is determined by an objective condition such as arriving at a specific date, completing a specific task or the occurrence of a specific event.

The Complainant could not show that she is currently a fixed term employee. The Complainant accepts that the termination date of her last fixed term contract had elapsed before October 2018, when she was offered a ‘contract of indefinite duration’. She has remained in the employ of the Respondent therefore I find that she was not a fixed term employee when she lodged the Claim under the Act in May 2019. I find that her complaint is not well founded and therefore fails as she is not a fixed – term employee for the purposes of the Act.

CA-00028676: Discrimination under the Employment Equality Act, 1998:

I find that this complaint is not well founded as the Complainant failed to identify a discriminatory ground upon which such a complaint can be adjudicated upon.

CA-00028676 -005, -006, -007: Complaints under the Protection of Employees (Fixed Term Work) Act, 2003:

This complaints are not well founded and therefore fail because I find that the Complainant is not a fixed term employee for the purposes of making a complaint under the Act.  

Employment Equality Acts, Discrimination, Fixed-Term Worker