Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

Account Manager

A Company

Representatives

Self-Represented

David Bell – The HR Department

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994

CA-00031584-001

15/10/2019

The Complainant has worked for the Company in the position of Account Manager since December 2006.

The Complainant’s core terms, and conditions of employment have been changed unilaterally and without notice by the Respondent.

On 1st October 2019, the Complainant was removed as a Director of the Company without prior consultation or notice. Notification of the change in her status of Director was sent to her through a general notice to staff within the Company, along with a similar notification directly to external suppliers to the Company.

This change was implemented unilaterally by the Respondent due to an ongoing dispute which arose between the Directors and the Complainant.

In addition to this change in role i.e., the removal of Director status, additional and significant changes in day-to-day duties have been implemented by the Respondent which have impacted directly on the Complainants ability to undertake her usual and normal duties including measures which impeded the Complainants normal use of email, mobile phone etc. Other changes were implemented relating to the payment of the Complainants pension without due notice. The changes implemented by the Respondent have led to an inability of the Complainant to undertake her normal duties and the Complainant is now in a position that she is not clear as to the status of her current role and duties as no clear written notification of the changes implemented by the Respondent have been provided.

The Respondent provided the Complainant with her contract of employment on commencement. In 2009, the Complainant, along with 2 other employees completed a management buy-out equating to 70% shareholding between the 3 parties. The Respondent and one other party retained the other 30%.

In recent times, the Respondent indicated they had concerns regarding the operation of the business and in particular concerns regarding a decline in the overall sales performance within the Company. During the period between 2014 and 2019, there was an ongoing and significant deterioration in the relationship between the Board members (Respondent) and the other Shareholders (including the Complainant) and it is alleged the Complainant failed to co-operate with other Directors in relation to an oversight in financial details relating to the company.

This lack of transparency led the Respondent to implement unilateral changes within the business, including removing the Complainant as a Director in an effort to assert control over the business and address the financial issues which have been a major concern.

The Respondent confirmed this change informing the client of the change/loss of Directorship was presented to the Complainant dated 1st October 2019.

I find the Respondent has implemented significant changes to the Complainant’s day to day duties without due or reasonable notice confirming the specific nature and date of these changes which clearly impacted the ability of the Complainant to undertake her normal duties. The only notification sent detailed the loss of Director status. No other changes in terms and conditions which have been implemented have been clearly set out in writing to the Complainant.

A change in terms and conditions of employment must be agreed in advance between the parties and cannot simply be unilaterally imposed by one side on the other without due discussion and agreement. Furthermore, any such changes must be clearly set out in writing. In this case, the changes are significant and are affecting the ability of the Complainant to undertake her normal duties as well as impacting her pension rights.

Pursuant to the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994, an employer is required to notify the employee of the nature and the date of the change of the particulars of the employee’s terms of employment within one month of the change taking effect.

I therefore find this claim to be well founded. The absence of due notice setting out clearly the nature of any changes in the terms and conditions of employment within the obligatory period is a major omission on the part of the Respondent.

I find the complaint to be well founded. I order the Respondent pay the Complainant the sum of €3,000 in compensation for breaches of the Act which equates to just under four weeks net pay. This award is compensation and is not any form of wages or renumeration.

Terms of Employment – Changes in terms and conditions