ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00024773

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Anonymised Parties	A shop assistant	A shop owner

Representatives

Complainant

Not represented

Complaint:

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-00031420-001	08/10/2019

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 04/12/2020

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Shay Henry

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2014following the referral of the complaint to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint.

Background:

The complainant worked for the respondent from November 2016 until July 2019 when she was made redundant. She received no redundancy payment.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The complainant was made redundant at the end of July 2019 having worked for the respondent continuously since November 2016. The respondent did not pay the redundancy entitlement. The complainant submitted a completed RP77 form to him by registered post on 20th August 2019 requesting the redundancy payment, but the respondent ignored this correspondence and did not pay the redundancy due.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The respondent was not in attendance at the hearing and was not represented. I am satisfied that the respondent was on notice of the hearing. The non-attendance has not been explained to my satisfaction.

Findings and Conclusions:

Section 7 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 states;

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 the Social 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 two years ending on that date.

As the evidence presented by the complainant was that she did not receive the payment due, and this has not been contested by the respondent, I accept that evidence in its entirety and the appeal is allowed.

Decision:

Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 – 2012 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under that Act.

The appeal in under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act is allowed and I order the respondent to pay the complainant the statutory redundancy payment calculated in accordance with the Act, based on the employment period from 8th November 2016 until 31st July 2019, and based on €275 p.w subject to the complainant having been in insurable employment for the relevant period under the Social Welfare Acts.

Dated: January 28th 2021

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Shay Henry

Key Words:

Redundancy payment not made. Respondent not at hearing