Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Declan  Creaton

Creeslough (Retail) Limited DV8 Fashions

Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

Declan  Creaton

Creeslough (Retail) Limited DV8 Fashions

Representatives

  N/A

N/A

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977

CA-00041274-001

27/11/2020

The Complainant commenced his employment as a manager in one of the Respondent’s retail outlets on 10 November 2014 and was paid a basic salary of €27,500. He stated that he was dismissed from his employment on 5 January 2018 without having been afforded the benefit of fair procedures.

The Complainant stated that his dismissal has had a profound effect on both his life and that of his family. He asserted that in the run up to Christmas 2017, he had exceeded the

targets that were set for him and was due to receive a bonus in January. He stated that prior to his dismissal, there was absolutely no indication that the Respondent was anything but happy with his performance. He added that he was enlisted to assist in setting up another store to ensure it met the same high standards.

He stated that when he was dismissed, he was not paid either his bonus, for any holidays he was due or for the additional days he had worked over Christmas, or for the days he worked in the beginning of January.

He also stated that his line manager had told him she would be happy to give him a good reference if he said nothing to anyone about being dismissed without notice. As a result, he provided her name as a reference for some job applications but found it difficult to source alternative employment.  He later discovered that his line manager was telling potential employers that he was not trustworthy and asserted that there was no basis for this.

The Respondent stated that the Complainant resigned from his position on 31 December 2017 and disputed the fact that he was dismissed. The Respondent’s representative also asserted that any reference she gave for the Complainant was truthful and highlighted that she never received any complaint from a staff member in relation to her treatment of them

PRELIMINARY POINT

The Law

Section 8(2) of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1993 states the following in respect of time limits:

(2) A claim for redress under this Act shall be initiated by giving a notice in writing (containing such particulars (if any) as may be specified in regulations under section 17 of this Act made for the purposes of subsection (8) of this section) to a rights commissioner or the Tribunal, as the case may be—

(a) within the period of 6 months beginning on the date of the relevant dismissal, or

(b) if the rights commissioner or the Tribunal, as the case may be, is satisfied that exceptional circumstances prevented the giving of the notice within the period aforesaid, then, within such period not exceeding 12 months from the date aforesaid as the rights commissioner or the Tribunal, as the case may be, considers reasonable,”

S. 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2014 states: -

“(6) Subject to subsection (8), an adjudication officer shall not entertain a complaint referred to him or her under this section if it has been presented to the Director General after the expiration of the period of 6 months beginning on the date of the contravention to which the complaint relates.”

and

“(8) An adjudication officer may entertain a complaint or dispute to which this section applies presented or referred to the Director General after the expiration of the period referred to in subsection (6) or (7) (but not later than 6 months after such expiration), as the case may be, if he or she is satisfied that the failure to present the complaint or refer the dispute within that period was due to reasonable cause.”

Findings

Even if I accept the Complainant’s assertion that he was dismissed on 5 January 2018, and not 31 December 2017 as the Respondent stated, I find that the complaint was not submitted to the WRC until 27 November 2020, almost three years after his dismissal and that it is therefore out of time.

I do not have jurisdiction to hear the complaint for the reasons set out above.

Time limit;