ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00024412
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | An Employee | A Mink Farm |
Representatives | In person | No attendance |
Complaint(s):
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 | CA-00031071-001 | 23/09/2019 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 | CA-00031075-001 | 23/09/2019 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 22/01/2020
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Emile Daly
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015following the referral of the complaint(s)/dispute(s) to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint(s)/dispute(s) and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint(s)/dispute(s).
Background:
The Complainant worked for 27 years for the Respondent and his employment was ended on 2 April 2019 due to redundancy. Statutory redundancy was paid to the Complainant. This complaint is in respect of unpaid minimum notice, unpaid holidays and unpaid wages. By letter dated 19 September 2019 the WRC advised the Complainant that complaint CA-00031075-01 has been amalgamated with CA-00031071-001 under Adjudication file reference ADJ-00024412 and will proceed in this manner. Therefore this decision deals with all the complaints issued under reference Adj-00024412. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
ADJ–00024412 : CA-00031075-01 The Complainant was not given adequate notice prior to his dismissal. Based on his service of 27 years he was entitled to the maximum of 8 weeks notice. He received one week of notice and therefore is making a claim of pay for 7 weeks (based on a gross weekly wage of €436). In addition, at the time of his dismissal the Complainant was entitled to 7 weeks in unpaid wages (on the basis of a net weekly pay of €393) ADJ–00024412 : CA-00031071-01 The Complainant at the time of dismissal was entitled to 3 weeks in unpaid holidays (on the basis of a net weekly pay of €393) |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
No attendance at Adjudication Hearing |
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.
The Respondent was put on notice of this Adjudication hearing however they failed to attend. As a result, and having satisfied myself that proper notice was afforded to the Respondent, I proceeded to hear the evidence of the Complainant and to determine the complaints on an uncontested basis. For the purpose of this decision I extended time for the bringing of all complaints to 12 months for reasonable cause, which was that the Respondent gave assurances after April 2019 that the debts to the Complainant would be discharged, but then failed to do so. The Complainant was permitted to believe between April and September 2019 that there would be no necessity to bring a WRC complaint, when this was not in fact the case. CA-00031075-001 Based on the uncontested evidence of the Complainant I am satisfied that the complaint is well founded in respect of 7 weeks minimum notice. I award 7 weeks at €436 = € 3052. Based on the uncontested evidence of the Complainant I am satisfied that the complaints in respect of unpaid wages I award 7 weeks at €393 = €2751. AWARD: € 5803.00 CA-00031071-001 Based on the uncontested evidence of the Complainant I am satisfied that the complaints in respect unpaid holidays are well founded. I make the following award: 3 weeks at €393 = €1179. AWARD: €1179
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Dated: 27th November 2020
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Emile Daly
Key Words:
Minimum Notice – Wages - Holidays |