Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A bar worker

A Golf Club

Representatives

The employee

The Company Secretary

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under the Industrial Relations Acts

CA-00034531-001

07/02/2020

The employee was employed on a part-time basis from 17th May 2019 until 2nd March 2020. The employee was issued with a letter on 17th January 2020 advising her that her contract would be terminated as the employer proposed to contract out part of the restaurant and bar service.

There were no notable events leading up to the dismissal, aside from whispers from Golf Club members, and the employee was not aware that she was to be dismissed before she was handed her notice on the 17th of January 2020. There were no written or verbal warnings nor staff meetings preceding the notice period. The bar staff were all given notice letters. They were made aware in these letters that the Golf Club would be outsourcing the catering services as of the 2nd of March. They were told that the Golf Club would also be outsourcing the bar services making their jobs redundant. However, they were later told by a member of the council that the Golf Club were not outsourcing the bar services, rather they would be paying the contractor a salary to take on the bar services as bar manager, as the club license dictated that the bar could not be outsourced.

The employee and others requested a meeting with representatives of the golf club in an attempt to retain their jobs. A representative of the club claimed that the contract had been signed, and there was no reversing the decisions. The same representative stated that the council were able to dismiss staff without reason. Detailed notes were taken at the meeting and these were provided to the attendees for verification on Sunday the 19th of January. On the 25th of January, the staff wrote a letter notifying the council members that they were applying for an adjudication on the grounds of Unfair Dismissal. The complainant does not believe that the proper Disciplinary and Grievances Procedures were followed, and still does not understand why she was dismissed.

Due to the performance of the bar and restaurant it was decided to outsource the restaurant.   Staff were informed of this in November 2019 and on an ongoing basis thereafter. A potential candidate to take over the restaurant was identified and the first week of March 2020 was the date on which it was anticipated this would happen. Staff were advised by letter dated 17th January that their employment would end with effect from 2nd March 2020 and that the employer would ask the franchisee to take on as many of the existing staff as possible. The employer found alternative employment for a number of the staff and retained them based on length of service. The employee in this case was casual and she communicated to the employer that she was not available during and after February because she was doing the Leaving Cert. Therefore, it was not possible to get the franchisee to retain her.

The employee has argued that the employer failed to issue any verbal warnings or use a procedure in any way in advance of the dismissal. The employer has confirmed that were no disciplinary issues and therefore there was no requirement to use a disciplinary procedure. The termination of the contract related to the decision to contract out the restaurant service in the golf club. I am satisfied that there was considerable discussion between the employer and the affected employees. There is evidence that this took place and certainly, through its actions in retaining a number of staff, it is clear that the Club was at all times seeking to minimise the number of staff affected by the proposed outsourcing. I also note that the employee informed the employer that she would not be available from February onwards due to doing the Leaving Certificate and this impinged on the possibility of the franchisee employing her. In these circumstances I do not believe a recommendation in favour of the employee is appropriate.

The complaint is not upheld

Industrial relations.   Requirement for procedures where no disciplinary issue exists