CORRECTION ORDER
ISSUED PURSUANT TO SECTION 39 OF THE ORGANISATION OF WORKING TIME ACT 1997
This Order corrects the original Decision issued on 13/04/2022and should be read in conjunction with that Decision.
ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION/RECOMMENDATION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00028419
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Sigita Veinberga - Galdika | Ballyleague Mushrooms Ltd |
Representatives | Sigita Veinberga -Galdika | Thomas Ryan Peninsula |
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-00036497-001 | 03/06/2020 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 10/01/2022
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Emer O'Shea
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 [and/or Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2014 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).
Background:
The complainant was employed as a mushroom harvester with the respondent from the 15.12.2008– 14th.February 2020 when she submits she was made redundant .The complainant earned €532.02 per week. The complainant submits that the respondent is in breach of the Act for failing to pay her statutory redundancy. The respondent rejects the complaint and asked that the claim be dismissed on the basis that the complainant was offered suitable alternative employment which was rejected by the complainant . |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The claimant submitted that she was made redundant by the company since the 14.02.2020 owing to company reorganisation .She asserted she was promised a redundancy lump sum.She asserted that she had made a number of efforts to engage with the respondent but received no response .She stated that she completed an RP 77 but heard nothing back.She asserted that the respondent had agreed to pay compensation but it never happened .She said in her direct evidence that she got no response when she sent a letter looking for redundancy .At a meeting with all of her colleagues and the respondent on the 12th.June 2020 she asked Mr.Kiernan why he did not reply to her letters and she asserted that he pretended never to receive it .She asserted that he laughed when she challenged him about the letter and he said he would not respond to a letter like this. The claimant said that when she was offered recommencement of employment she did not understand it as she understood she was already redundant. She asserted that she enquired about a new contract if she were to recommence work in June but Mr.Kiernan would not give her a new contract. The claimant acknowledged that she recalled an offer of alternative employment prior to being let go in the respondent’s other plants in Cavan but she was unable to accept them because of their considerable distance from her home and it would significantly impact on her family responsibilities – she had 2 school going children and her husband had become disabled the previous year and she had to work nearby in order to be available to care for him. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The respondent’s representative submitted as follows : 1. Ms Sigita Veinberga -Galdika (hereinafter referred to as “the Complainant”) commenced employment on the 15.12.2008 as a Harvester with Ballyleague Mushrooms (hereinafter referred to as “the Respondent”). 2. The Respondent is a mushroom producer based from Moher, Lanesborough, county Roscommon. 3. The Complainant has lodged the within complaint pursuant to s.39 Redundancy Payments Act 1967. Facts 4. The Complainant commenced employment with the Respondent on the 15.12.2008 The Complainant remained employed by the Respondent until they ceased trading on 14 February 2020. During this time, the Complainant maintained an excellent employment record. 5. The Respondent produces mushrooms primarily for the retail market. The Respondent is also reliant on the export market to the United Kingdom. 6. Due to the effects of the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, the Respondent suffered a significant reduction in trade and anticipated this effect to escalate in detriment to their operation. 7. On 06 January 2020, the E.K , Director of the Respondent, initiated an information and consultation process. The employees of the Respondent, including the Complainant were represented by A.L., Farm Supervisor of the Respondent. E.K. met with all employees and informed them of the economic circumstances affecting the Respondent. 8. As part of that meeting, EK offered all employees to transfer to roles within their other farms, Sheelin and Kildorough Mushrooms respectively. However, the Complainant failed to accept this offer. 9. On 14 February 2020 the Complainant was informed that their position was redundant, this was confirmed by way of letter by C.K., Director of the Respondent Company. A total of 57 employees of the Respondent Company were made redundant on 14 February 2020. 10. With the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic in March 2020 the Respondent experienced a significant increase in demand within the retail sector. This was largely due to a reduction in demand in the wholesale (i.e. Catering) sector and an increase in demand in supermarkets. 11. The Respondent wrote to the Complainant on 29 May 2020 informing her that production would be recommencing in June 2020 and that her previous role was available to them. 12. On 10 June 2020 Ms.MF of the Respondent Company invited the Complainant by email to attend a meeting on 12 June 2020. The Complainant attended such meeting in which the Respondent informed the Complainant that they would re-engage the Complainant as opposed to offer new employment and that they did not have the funds to make the redundancy payment but were in a position to offer the original position to the Complainant. 13. The Complainant failed to take up the invitation to return to work, and rather proceeded with the within complaints pursuant to the Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 which were lodged with the Workplace Relations Commission on 15 September 2020. 14. The Respondent resumed operations in June 2020 and was required to engage a contractor to satisfy the staffing needs. This arrangement continued until January 2021; at which time the Respondent took the decision to cease operations. Law 15. s.7 Redundancy Payment Act 1967 (as amended) provides: (1) An employee, if he is dismissed by his employer by reason of redundancy or is laid off or kept on short-time for the minimum period, shall, subject to this Act, be entitled to the payment of moneys which shall be known (and are in this Act referred to) as redundancy payment provided— (a) he has been employed for the requisite period, and (b) he was an employed contributor in employment which was insurable for all benefits under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1966, immediately before the date of the termination of his employment, or had ceased to be ordinarily employed in employment which was so insurable in the period of four years ending on that date. 16. A redundancy occurs in circumstances as set out in s.7(2) 1967 Act: For the purposes of subsection (1), an employee who is dismissed shall be taken to be dismissed by reason of redundancy if for one or more reasons not related to the employee concerned the dismissal is attributable wholly or mainly to— (a) the fact that his employer has ceased, or intends to cease, to carry on the business for the purposes of which the employee was employed by him, or has ceased or intends to cease, to carry on that business in the place where the employee was so employed, or (b) the fact that the requirements of that business for employees to carry out work of a particular kind in the place where he was so employed have ceased or diminished or are expected to cease or diminish, or (c) the fact that his employer has decided to carry on the business with fewer or no employees, whether by requiring the work for which the employee had been employed (or had been doing before his dismissal) to be done by other employees or otherwise, or (d) the fact that his employer has decided that the work for which the employee had been employed (or had been doing before his dismissal) should henceforward be done in a different manner for which the employee is not sufficiently qualified or trained, or (e) the fact that his employer has decided that the work for which the employee had been employed (or had been doing before his dismissal) should henceforward be done by a person who is also capable of doing other work for which the employee is not sufficiently qualified or trained[.] (e) the terms and conditions of employment of those other persons are, or are to be, materially inferior to those of the dismissed employees. At the hearing , the respondent confirmed that the Minister had not been notified of the redundancy of the complainant and her 56 colleagues and proceeded to argue as follows :- the Respondent respectively refers to Section 15 (2), which reads as follows – (2) An employee […] shall not be entitled to a redundancy payment if […] (a) his employer has made to him in writing an offer to renew the employee's contract of employment or to re-engage him under a new contract of employment, (b) the provisions of the contract as renewed, or of the new contract, as to the capacity and place in which he would be employed and as to the other terms and conditions of his employment would differ wholly or in part from the corresponding provisions of his contract in force immediately before [the termination of his contract]. (c) the offer constitutes an offer of suitable employment in relation to the employee, (d) the renewal or re-engagement would take effect not later than four weeks after the date of [the termination of his contract], and (e) he has unreasonably refused the offer. 17. The Respondent refers most notably to subsections (d) and (e) as above. Although the Respondent’s offer of re-engagement came outside of the statutory time frame, mainly due to the uncertainty of trade due to covid-19, but was nevertheless a genuine offer, one that was unreasonably declined. 18. The Complainant’s claim for pay pursuant to s.39 1967 Act should be dismissed. Conclusion 19. The Complainant has brought a claim pursuant to s.39 1967 Act. 20. The within claim should be dismissed. 21. The Respondent reserves the right to adduce further submissions at the hearing of the matters. At the hearing the respondent’s representative clarified that the offer of redeployment made on the 6th.January 2020 related to 2 other mushroom farms – one sited at Kilsheelin which was 70km one way distant from the Ballyleague Plant and the other at Kildorrough which is located 75km away from the Ballyleague plant. The respondent’s representative clarified that the offer of re engagement made to the claimant at the 12th.June 2020 related to the Ballyleague plant and accepted that the offer was outside of the statutory time frame provided for in the Act. The respondent submitted that while the business was not currently trading , the resumption of the business was contingent upon the wider economic climate .In a post hearing submission the respondents representative advised that the business was not insolvent. |
Findings and Conclusions:
I have reviewed the evidence presented at the hearing and noted the respective positions of the parties. The letter from the respondent to the claimant dated the 14th.Feb.2020 advising her of the termination of her employment was clear and unequivocal. I find the offer of alternative employment made in January 2020 prior to the termination of employment was not reasonable given the 70-75km distance between the locations offered and the existing Ballyleague plant. The offer of renewal of employment at Ballyleague which was first communicated to the complainant on the 29.05.2020 was significantly outside of the statutory time limit set out in Section 15(2)(d) of the Act . Section 7(2) of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967, states: For the purposes of subsection (1), an employee who is dismissed shall be taken to have been dismissed by reason of redundancy if for one or more reasons not related to the employee concerned the dismissal is attributable wholly or mainly to – (a) The fact that his employer has ceased, or intends to cease, to carry on the business in the place where the employee was so employed, or (b) The fact that the requirements of that business for employees to carry out work of a particular kind in the place where he was so employed have ceased or diminished or are expected to cease or diminish… I find that the claimant’s contract was terminated on the 14th.Feb. 2020 and that as a result the claimant’s employment ceased.The claimant was accordingly dismissed by way of redundancy and the offer to resume employment was made outside the statutory time limit set down in the Act. Consequently , I am upholding the complaint . |
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 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.
I find that the complaint under the Redundancy Payments Act , 1967 is well founded and that the complainant is entitled to a redundancy payment based on the following criteria: Date of Commencement : 15.12.2008 Date of Termination :14/02/2020 Gross Weekly Pay : €532.02per week This award is made subject to the complainant having been in insurable employment under the Social Welfare Acts during the relevant period. |
Dated: 13-04-2022
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Emer O'Shea
Key Words:
Redundancy |
ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION/RECOMMENDATION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00028419
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Sigita Veinberga - Galdika | Breffni Mushrooms |
Representatives | Sigita Veinberga -Galdika | Thomas Ryan Peninsula |
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-00036497-001 | 03/06/2020 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 10/01/2022
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Emer O'Shea
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 [and/or Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2014 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).
Background:
The complainant was employed as a mushroom harvester with the respondent from the 15.12.2008– 14th.February 2020 when she submits she was made redundant .The complainant earned €532.02 per week. The complainant submits that the respondent is in breach of the Act for failing to pay her statutory redundancy. The respondent rejects the complaint and asked that the claim be dismissed on the basis that the complainant was offered suitable alternative employment which was rejected by the complainant .
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Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The claimant submitted that she was made redundant by the company since the 14.02.2020 owing to company reorganisation .She asserted she was promised a redundancy lump sum.She asserted that she had made a number of efforts to engage with the respondent but received no response .She stated that she completed an RP 77 but heard nothing back.She asserted that the respondent had agreed to pay compensation but it never happened .She said in her direct evidence that she got no response when she sent a letter looking for redundancy .At a meeting with all of her colleagues and the respondent on the 12th.June 2020 she asked Mr.Kiernan why he did not reply to her letters and she asserted that he pretended never to receive it .She asserted that he laughed when she challenged him about the letter and he said he would not respond to a letter like this. The claimant said that when she was offered recommencement of employment she did not understand it as she understood she was already redundant. She asserted that she enquired about a new contract if she were to recommence work in June but Mr.Kiernan would not give her a new contract. The claimant acknowledged that she recalled an offer of alternative employment prior to being let go in the respondent’s other plants in Cavan but she was unable to accept them because of their considerable distance from her home and it would significantly impact on her family responsibilities – she had 2 school going children and her husband had become disabled the previous year and she had to work nearby in order to be available to care for him. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The respondent’s representative submitted as follows : 1. Ms Sigita Veinberga -Galdika (hereinafter referred to as “the Complainant”) commenced employment on the 15.12.2008 as a Harvester with Ballyleague Mushrooms (hereinafter referred to as “the Respondent”). 2. The Respondent is a mushroom producer based from Moher, Lanesborough, county Roscommon. 3. The Complainant has lodged the within complaint pursuant to s.39 Redundancy Payments Act 1967.
Facts 4. The Complainant commenced employment with the Respondent on the 15.12.2008 The Complainant remained employed by the Respondent until they ceased trading on 14 February 2020. During this time, the Complainant maintained an excellent employment record. 5. The Respondent produces mushrooms primarily for the retail market. The Respondent is also reliant on the export market to the United Kingdom. 6. Due to the effects of the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, the Respondent suffered a significant reduction in trade and anticipated this effect to escalate in detriment to their operation. 7. On 06 January 2020, the E.K , Director of the Respondent, initiated an information and consultation process. The employees of the Respondent, including the Complainant were represented by A.L., Farm Supervisor of the Respondent. E.K. met with all employees and informed them of the economic circumstances affecting the Respondent. 8. As part of that meeting, EK offered all employees to transfer to roles within their other farms, Sheelin and Kildorough Mushrooms respectively. However, the Complainant failed to accept this offer. 9. On 14 February 2020 the Complainant was informed that their position was redundant, this was confirmed by way of letter by C.K., Director of the Respondent Company. A total of 57 employees of the Respondent Company were made redundant on 14 February 2020. 10. With the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic in March 2020 the Respondent experienced a significant increase in demand within the retail sector. This was largely due to a reduction in demand in the wholesale (i.e. Catering) sector and an increase in demand in supermarkets. 11. The Respondent wrote to the Complainant on 29 May 2020 informing her that production would be recommencing in June 2020 and that her previous role was available to them. 12. On 10 June 2020 Ms.MF of the Respondent Company invited the Complainant by email to attend a meeting on 12 June 2020. The Complainant attended such meeting in which the Respondent informed the Complainant that they would re-engage the Complainant as opposed to offer new employment and that they did not have the funds to make the redundancy payment but were in a position to offer the original position to the Complainant. 13. The Complainant failed to take up the invitation to return to work, and rather proceeded with the within complaints pursuant to the Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 which were lodged with the Workplace Relations Commission on 15 September 2020. 14. The Respondent resumed operations in June 2020 and was required to engage a contractor to satisfy the staffing needs. This arrangement continued until January 2021; at which time the Respondent took the decision to cease operations. Law 15. s.7 Redundancy Payment Act 1967 (as amended) provides: (1) An employee, if he is dismissed by his employer by reason of redundancy or is laid off or kept on short-time for the minimum period, shall, subject to this Act, be entitled to the payment of moneys which shall be known (and are in this Act referred to) as redundancy payment provided— (a) he has been employed for the requisite period, and (b) he was an employed contributor in employment which was insurable for all benefits under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1966, immediately before the date of the termination of his employment, or had ceased to be ordinarily employed in employment which was so insurable in the period of four years ending on that date. 16. A redundancy occurs in circumstances as set out in s.7(2) 1967 Act: For the purposes of subsection (1), an employee who is dismissed shall be taken to be dismissed by reason of redundancy if for one or more reasons not related to the employee concerned the dismissal is attributable wholly or mainly to— (a) the fact that his employer has ceased, or intends to cease, to carry on the business for the purposes of which the employee was employed by him, or has ceased or intends to cease, to carry on that business in the place where the employee was so employed, or (b) the fact that the requirements of that business for employees to carry out work of a particular kind in the place where he was so employed have ceased or diminished or are expected to cease or diminish, or (c) the fact that his employer has decided to carry on the business with fewer or no employees, whether by requiring the work for which the employee had been employed (or had been doing before his dismissal) to be done by other employees or otherwise, or (d) the fact that his employer has decided that the work for which the employee had been employed (or had been doing before his dismissal) should henceforward be done in a different manner for which the employee is not sufficiently qualified or trained, or (e) the fact that his employer has decided that the work for which the employee had been employed (or had been doing before his dismissal) should henceforward be done by a person who is also capable of doing other work for which the employee is not sufficiently qualified or trained[.] (e) the terms and conditions of employment of those other persons are, or are to be, materially inferior to those of the dismissed employees. At the hearing , the respondent confirmed that the Minister had not been notified of the redundancy of the complainant and her 56 colleagues and proceeded to argue as follows :- the Respondent respectively refers to Section 15 (2), which reads as follows – (2) An employee […] shall not be entitled to a redundancy payment if […] (a) his employer has made to him in writing an offer to renew the employee's contract of employment or to re-engage him under a new contract of employment, (b) the provisions of the contract as renewed, or of the new contract, as to the capacity and place in which he would be employed and as to the other terms and conditions of his employment would differ wholly or in part from the corresponding provisions of his contract in force immediately before [the termination of his contract]. (c) the offer constitutes an offer of suitable employment in relation to the employee, (d) the renewal or re-engagement would take effect not later than four weeks after the date of [the termination of his contract], and (e) he has unreasonably refused the offer. 17. The Respondent refers most notably to subsections (d) and (e) as above. Although the Respondent’s offer of re-engagement came outside of the statutory time frame, mainly due to the uncertainty of trade due to covid-19, but was nevertheless a genuine offer, one that was unreasonably declined. 18. The Complainant’s claim for pay pursuant to s.39 1967 Act should be dismissed. Conclusion 19. The Complainant has brought a claim pursuant to s.39 1967 Act.
20. The within claim should be dismissed. 21. The Respondent reserves the right to adduce further submissions at the hearing of the matters. At the hearing the respondent’s representative clarified that the offer of redeployment made on the 6th.January 2020 related to 2 other mushroom farms – one sited at Kilsheelin which was 70km one way distant from the Ballyleague Plant and the other at Kildorrough which is located 75km away from the Ballyleague plant. The respondent’s representative clarified that the offer of re engagement made to the claimant at the 12th.June 2020 related to the Ballyleague plant and accepted that the offer was outside of the statutory time frame provided for in the Act. The respondent submitted that while the business was not currently trading , the resumption of the business was contingent upon the wider economic climate .In a post hearing submission the respondents representative advised that the business was not insolvent.
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Findings and Conclusions:
I have reviewed the evidence presented at the hearing and noted the respective positions of the parties. The letter from the respondent to the claimant dated the 14th.Feb.2020 advising her of the termination of her employment was clear and unequivocal. I find the offer of alternative employment made in January 2020 prior to the termination of employment was not reasonable given the 70-75km distance between the locations offered and the existing Ballyleague plant. The offer of renewal of employment at Ballyleague which was first communicated to the complainant on the 29.05.2020 was significantly outside of the statutory time limit set out in Section 15(2)(d) of the Act . Section 7(2) of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967, states: For the purposes of subsection (1), an employee who is dismissed shall be taken to have been dismissed by reason of redundancy if for one or more reasons not related to the employee concerned the dismissal is attributable wholly or mainly to – (a) The fact that his employer has ceased, or intends to cease, to carry on the business in the place where the employee was so employed, or (b) The fact that the requirements of that business for employees to carry out work of a particular kind in the place where he was so employed have ceased or diminished or are expected to cease or diminish… I find that the claimant’s contract was terminated on the 14th.Feb. 2020 and that as a result the claimant’s employment ceased.The claimant was accordingly dismissed by way of redundancy and the offer to resume employment was made outside the statutory time limit set down in the Act. Consequently , I am upholding the complaint .
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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 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.
I find that the complaint under the Redundancy Payments Act , 1967 is well founded and that the complainant is entitled to a redundancy payment based on the following criteria: Date of Commencement : 15.12.2008 Date of Termination :14/02/2020 Gross Weekly Pay : €532.02per week
This award is made subject to the complainant having been in insurable employment under the Social Welfare Acts during the relevant period.
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Dated: 13-04-2022
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Emer O'Shea
Key Words:
Redundancy |