FULL RECOMMENDATION
PARTIES : MBCC FOODS IRELAND LIMITED T/A COSTA COFFEE DIVISION :
SUBJECT: 1.Appeal Of Adjudication Officer Decision No(S) ADJ-00027049 CA-00034621-003 Ms. Quilty, ‘the Complainant’, worked for MBCC Foods (Ireland) Ltd., ‘the Respondent’ as a Barista in their Costa Coffee store in Belgard, Dublin. She left the employment in February 2020. She was not paid her holiday pay entitlement upon leaving. It was paid subsequent to a claim being lodged with the Workplace Relations Commission, ‘WRC’ under the Act. An Adjudication Officer, ‘AO’ did not uphold the complaint. The Complainant appealed to this Court. Summary of Complainant arguments. The Complainant was entitled under the Act to be paid her holiday pay when she left the employment. The money was not paid until proceedings were launched. The Act was breached and the Complainant is entitled to compensation. Summary of Respondent arguments. The Complainant resigned on 4 February 2020. On 6 March 2020, the Complainant lodged a complaint under the Act with the WRC. Upon receipt of the complaint, the Respondent found that there was a clerical error which resulted in the Complainant not receiving her entitlements. This amount, €335.43, was paid on 19 March 2020. The claim has been addressed and the appeal is not well-founded. The applicable law Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 Compensation on cesser of employment. 23.— (1) (a) Where — (i) an employee ceases to be employed, and (ii) the whole or any portion of the annual leave in respect of the relevant period remains to be granted to the employee, the employee shall, as compensation for the loss of that annual leave, be paid by his or her employer an amount equal to the pay, calculated at the normal weekly rate or, as the case may be, at a rate proportionate to the normal weekly rate, that he or she would have received had he or she been granted that annual leave. 27. A decision of an adjudication officer undersection 41of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 in relation to a complaint of a contravention of a relevant provision shall do one or more of the following, namely: (a) declare that the complaint was or, as the case may be, was not well founded, (b) require the employer to comply with the relevant provision, (c) require the employer to pay to the employee compensation of such amount (if any) as is just and equitable having regard to all of the circumstances, but not exceeding 2 years ’ remuneration in respect of the employee ’ s employment. 28. A decision of the Labour Court undersection 44of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 on appeal from a decision of an adjudication officer referred to in subsection (3) of section 27 shall affirm, vary or set aside the decision of the adjudication officer. Deliberation Employees are entitled to receive any holiday pay due at the earliest opportunity when ceasing in an employment. The Court notes that the Respondent was first notified by the Complainant that she had not received her holiday pay when she lodged a complaint under the Act and that the Respondent dealt with the matter speedily at that point. It would, of course, have been more proper for this to have been brought to attention before such a complaint was lodged. However, responsibility to ensure payment rests with an employer and there is a technical breach of the Act. The Court determines that a sum of €100 should be paid by the Respondent to the Complainant in compensation for this technical breach. Determination. The Decision of the Adjudication Officer is set aside.
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