RTD212

1.An appeal of Adjudication Officer's Decision No. ADJ-00029119 CA- 00038840-010.

BACKGROUND:

2.A remote Labour Court hearing took place on 20 April, 2021. The following is the Determination of the Court:



DETERMINATION:

Mr. Pederson, ‘the Complainant’, brought a complaint against his former employer, Swordlestown Little Ltd., ‘the Respondent’, to the Workplace Relations Commission, ‘WRC’, alleging a breach of his rights under the European Communities’ (Road Transport)(Organisation of Working Time of Persons Performing Mobile Road Transport Activities) Regulations 2012-S.I. No. 36/2012.

The Adjudication Officer, ‘AO’, found that the Complainant was not covered by these regulations but made an award to the Complainant under the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997.

The AO Decision was appealed to this Court by the Respondent.

Preliminary Issue.

The Court could find no complaint to the WRC from the Complainant under the Organisation of Working Time Act. This was acknowledged by the Complainant.

The AO was clearly correct in finding that the Complainant was not a ‘mobile worker’ covered by the regulations under which he had taken his complaint.

The Court’s jurisdiction is limited to hearing appeals of Decisions by Adjudication Officers of the WRC in respect of matters brought to the WRC. As no complaint was made under the Organisation of Working Time Act, the AO was not at liberty to substitute the provisions of the Act for the terms of the regulations under which the complaint was made and/or to make an award under that Act and, as a consequence, the Court has no jurisdiction to consider any arguments by the Complainant under that Act.

Accordingly, the Respondent’s appeal must succeed.

Determination

The Decision of the Adjudication Officer is overturned.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Tom Geraghty
CC	______________________
21 April, 2021.	Deputy Chairman