ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00028752
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | Sales Assistant | Lighting showroom |
Representatives |
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Complaint(s):
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 12 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973 | CA-00036652-001 | 12/06/2020 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 | CA-00036652-002 | 12/06/2020 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 14/12/2020
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Marguerite Buckley
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 following 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.
This matter was heard by way of remote hearing pursuant to the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 and SI 359/20206, which designates the WRC as a body empowered to hold remote hearings.
Background:
CA-00036652-001. The Complainant started working for the Respondent in September 2014. She submitted that her employment was terminated by the Respondent on the 5th June 2020. She was in receipt of a monthly gross pay of €1,348.66 for 150 hours worked. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
CA-00036652-001 The Complainant was on annual leave between the 16th March 2020 and the 21st March 2020. She took the leave due to concerns she had for her father and Covid infection. She returned to work on the 23rd March 2020. She had Covid-19 symptoms and advised her manager she was going for a Covid test. The test was negative. She did not advise the Respondent of this. The Government introduced a full lockdown on the 27th March 2020. The Complainant did not attend at work due to the shop being closed. On the 5th June 2020, she contacted her manager about returning to work when the shop opened the following Monday 8th June 2020. He told her that he “didn’t need her” in the shop any longer. The Complainant disputed that she resigned from her position. She said times were hard and her father was unwell. She was adamant that she never said to her manager that she was leaving her job. CA-00036652-002. The Complainant submitted she didn’t receive a contract of employment. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
CA-00036652-001 The Manager of the shop gave evidence that the Complainant was taking a part time course and wanted to reduce her hours. She told him that the hours in the shop did not suit her and she would look for something else. On her return from annual leave on the 23rd March 2020 she met the Manager in the canteen. She was ready to leave and said to him that “she can’t be here, she was leaving”. She said she had Covid symptoms. The Manager heard nothing further from the Complainant and took it that she had resigned. The Respondent notified Revenue that the Complainant left her role on the 23rd of March 2020. When the Complainant telephoned him on the 5th June 2020 he told her that she had walked out on the 23rd March 2020 and he hadn’t heard from her since. CA-00036652-002. The Respondent confirmed that it had not provided a contract of employment or terms and conditions of employment to the Complainant. |
Findings and Conclusions:
CA-00036652-001. The facts of what happened between the 23rd March 2020 and the 6th June 2020 were in dispute. The Complainant advised her Manager that she was going for a Covid test. The Complainant did not submit her resignation in writing. She disputed that she resigned. She contacted the Respondent prior to the re-opening of the shop when the lockdown restrictions were lifted was evidence of same. I preferred her evidence and accept same as what took place. The Respondent should have enquired further as to what the Complainant intended doing. Its failure to communicate with the Complainant was fatal to its case especially considering that she advised her manager that she was going for a Covid test. CA-00036652-002. The Respondent conceded that it had not complied with the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994. |
Decision:
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaints in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
CA-00036652-001. This complaint is well founded. I award the Complainant four gross weeks’ pay which is €1,348.66. CA-00036652-002. This complaint is well founded. I award the Complainant four weeks’ pay which is €1,348.66. This is a compensation payment and is not taxable. |
Dated: 18/11/2021
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Marguerite Buckley
Key Words:
Minimum Notice. Resignation. Terms of Employment. |