ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00031016
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Joseph Clarke | James C Byrne Manufacturing Limited Byrnes Jewellers |
Representatives | none | Derek Sweeney CADFEM Ireland Ltd. |
Complaint(s):
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-00041185-001 | 23/11/2020 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 | CA-00041185-002 | 23/11/2020 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 02/06/2021
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Conor Stokes
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2014following the referral of the complaints to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaints and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaints.
Background:
This matter was heard by way of remote hearing pursuant to the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2020 and S.I. No. 359/2020 which designates the WRC as a body empowered to hold remote hearings. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The complainant was employed with the named respondent for 58 years. The complainant confirmed that the respondent has been dissolved. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The representative on behalf of the respondent confirmed that the respondent has been dissolved from March 2020. |
Findings and Conclusions:
Both parties to the hearing confirmed that the respondent entity was dissolved in March 2020. The complainant indicated that a letter seeking to reinstate the company had been issued and referred to one of his submissions in support of this assertion. However, upon examination, this submission did not support that contention. The Companies Registration office database continues to indicate that this entity has been dissolved (as at hearing date). In the circumstances, all the available evidence indicates that the company is dissolved. A dissolved company ceases to have legal existence and therefore cannot be a respondent to proceedings under employment legislation any longer. The Labour Court in Michael Gannon Landscaping Ltd. v Janis Golubevs, MWD126 held that: “The Court was informed that the respondent company has been dissolved. Consequently, the Respondent Company in this case has ceased to have any legal existence and its assets (if any) have been vested in the Minister for Finance by virtue of Section 28 of the State Property Act, 1954. In the absence of any statutory provision giving a dissolved Company a Iegal status for the purpose of proceedings under the Act, the Court has no jurisdiction to hear this appeal. The Court determines accordingly.” In the circumstances, following the reasoning of the Labour Court above, I find that I have no jurisdiction to deal with this complaint. |
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.
My decision is that as it appears that the respondent company has been dissolved, I have no jurisdiction to deal with these matters. In this context, the complainant may wish to engage further with the Redundancy Payments Section of the Department of Social Protection |
Dated: June 29th 2021
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Conor Stokes
Key Words:
Redundancy, dissolved respondent, lack of jurisdiction |