ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION/RECOMMENDATION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00027483
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | A Carpenter | Construction Company |
Representatives | The claimant represented himself | The respondent represented himself |
Complaint(s):
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Regulation 15 of the European Communities (Organisation of Working Time) (Mobile Staff in Civil Aviation) Regulations 2006 - S.I. No. 507 of 2012 | CA-00034678-003 | 14/02/2020 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 | CA-00034678-005 | 14/02/2020 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 09/12/2020
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Emer O'Shea
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and /or the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 following the referral of the complaint(s)/dispute(s) to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint(s)/dispute(s) and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint(s)/dispute(s).
CA-00034678-005
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The claimant was employed as a carpenter with the respondent from early 2018 to the end of December 2019. He submitted the respondent was in breach of the Act for failing to pay him his statutory entitlements to leave and public holidays over the years 2018 and 2019. The claimant submitted that he was unable to determine what if any payments were received for 2018 in the absence of pay slips which had been requested from the respondent. The claimant submitted that he was owed €1998.72 for outstanding holidays and public holidays in 2019 and €1928.88 for 2018. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The respondent submitted that the claimant had erred in lodging his complaint under Regulation 15 of the European Communities (Organisation of Working Time) (Mobile Staff in Civil Aviation) Regulations 2006 - S.I. No. 507 of 2012 and that consequently his complaint should be dismissed. It was further submitted that the complaint was out of time with respect to any period before the 14th August 2018 as the complaint was received by the WRC on the 14th February 2020. It was submitted that the claimant worked a 3 day week on an hourly rate of €19.00 per hour. It was submitted that the claimant had already been paid holiday pay of €1,624.88 for 2018, that his entitlement to holiday pay from the 14th Aug. 2018 to the 31st Dec. 2018 was €1,144.90 and that accordingly the claim with respect to 2018 should be dismissed. Holiday pay reports and payslips were submitted into evidence. It was submitted that the claimant had already been paid holiday payments of €1,650.72 for 2019. It was acknowledged that the claimant had not been paid for public holidays in 2019 and that he was due €1,614.26 with respect to same. Holiday pay reports and payslips for March, September and December were submitted into evidence. The respondent stated that the non payment of public holiday pay was due to an error on his part as he was unaware that the claimant had an entitlement to public holidays. |
Decision:
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint(s)/dispute(s) in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
Section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under that Act.
CA-00034678-005
I have reviewed the evidence presented at the hearing and noted the respective positions of the parties. While I acknowledge that the claimant erred in ticking the incorrect box on the manual complaint form, I am satisfied that the respondent was clearly on notice that this was a complaint about holiday and public holiday pay and as the complaint form is not a prescribed form. I am satisfied I have jurisdiction to investigate the matter. As the complaint was received on the 14th February 2020, I find the time frame for consideration of the complaint covered the 6 month period prior to this date. Consequently, the complaints with respect to 2018 are out of time. The records submitted by the respondent indicate that the claimant was paid his statutory entitlement to annual leave .On the basis of the records into evidence and the acknowledgement by the respondent that the claimant was not paid his bank holiday entitlements in 2019, I am upholding this element of the complaint. I require the respondent to pay the claimant €1,614.26 for his loss and additional €500 compensation for this breach of the claimant’s statutory entitlements. |
CA-00034678-003
As this redress provision was inadvertently ticked by the claimant and as the substantive matter has been dealt with above, I dismiss this element of the complaint.
Dated: 9th March 2021
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Emer O'Shea
Key Words:
Public Holidays /Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 |