ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00033283
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Ronan McGrath | Galway Free Range Eggs Limited |
Representatives | Bernadette Glynn, Solicitor | The respondent did not attend |
Complaint:
Act | Complaint Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 | CA-00044102-001 | 14/05/2021 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 19/04/2022
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Procedure:
In accordance with section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015, this complaint was assigned to me by the Director General. I conducted a remote hearing on April 19th 2022, at which I gave the parties an opportunity to be heard and to present evidence relevant to the complaint.
Mr McGrath was represented by his solicitor, Ms Bernadette Glynn. An adjournment was granted to Galway Free Range Eggs Limited for a hearing scheduled on March 16th 2022. On April 6th, I decided not to grant a second adjournment, and on April 12th, a director, Mr Kevin Towey wrote to the WRC and apologised that no one from the company was available to attend the hearing. As the subject matter for adjudication is the non-payment of a redundancy lump sum arising from the termination of Mr McGrath’s employment more than two years ago, I have decided to proceed with the hearing of this complaint.
Before giving evidence, Mr McGrath gave a solemn affirmation to tell the truth. While the parties are named in this decision, for the remainder of this document, I will refer to Mr McGrath as “the complainant” and to Galway Free Range Eggs Limited, as “the respondent.”
Background:
The complainant was the manager of the respondent’s egg packing centre in Cregmore, County Galway and he joined the company on January 22nd 2001. He claims that, when his employment ceased on February 14th 2020, he was not paid a redundancy lump sum. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
At the hearing, the complainant said that one of the directors of the company called the staff together in the packing facility on December 19th 2019. The director told the five employees present that the company was in financial difficulties and that he intended to ask a competitor to take on the egg packing operation and to close the operation in Cregmore. When his employment ended on February 14th 2020, the complainant said that the director signed an RP50 form for him and advised him to apply to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) for a redundancy payment. To determine their entitlement to a redundancy lump sum, a former employee is required to submit a complaint to the WRC. When he submitted his complaint on July 27th 2020, the complainant was informed by a member of staff at the WRC that it could not be adjudicated on because the respondent had ceased trading and had been removed from the Register of Companies. On April 14th 2021, the complainant’s solicitor successfully applied to the Circuit Court to have the company restored on the Register of Companies and a new complaint was submitted to the WRC on May 14th 2021. |
Findings and Conclusions:
In accordance with section 24(2A) of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 (“the Act”), I am satisfied that the striking off of the company from the Companies Register and the challenge of having the company reinstated, is a reasonable cause for the complainant not submitting this complaint to the WRC within 12 months of the date of the termination of his employment. As the complaint has been submitted within 104 weeks of the termination of the complainant’s employment and, as I am satisfied that the delay was for reasonable cause, I can proceed with my enquiry. Section 7 of the Act sets out five specific circumstances in which an employee may be entitled to a redundancy payment, the first of which is: (a) [T]he fact his employer has ceased or intends to cease to carry on the business for the purpose 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.” From the employee’s evidence at the hearing, it is apparent that the complainant’s employer has ceased operations in the place where he was employed. As he was offered no alternative work in any other premises, the complainant’s job is redundant. As he has completed more than two years of service with this employer, he is entitled to a redundancy payment. |
Decision:
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
In accordance with section 7 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967, I decide that this complaint is well-founded. Subject to his PRSI contribution status, the complainant is entitled to a statutory redundancy payment based on his service from January 22nd 2001 until February 14th 2020. |
Dated: 21st April 2022
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Key Words:
Redundancy lump sum |