ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION.

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00031174

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Parties	Edwin Leahy	Log Cabin 4 Less Log Cabin 4 Less

	Complainant	Respondent
Anonymised Parties

Representatives

In person

Did not attend

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-00040937-001	12/11/2020
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997	CA-00040937-002	12/11/2020
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997	CA-00040937-003	12/11/2020
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991	CA-00040937-004	12/11/2020
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967	CA-00040937-005	12/11/2020

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 30/03/2022

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Jim Dolan

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) to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint(s) and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint(s).

Background:

The Complainant was employed by the Respondent as a Sales Rep from 18th May 2018. Employment ended in or around mid-September 2020.

The Complainant worked 40 hours per week for which he received a weekly wage of €600.

This complaint was received by the Workplace Relations Commission on 12th November 2020.

The complaint comes in five parts:

CA – 00040937 – 001 - Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 12 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973.

CA – 00040937 – 002 - Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997.

CA – 00040937 – 003 – Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997.

CA – 00040937 – 004 - Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991.

CA – 00040937 – 005 - Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967.

The hearing of the complaint took place remotely on 30th March 2022.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The Complainant commenced employment on 18th May 2018 and his employment remained uneventful until 18th March 2020 at which time he was placed on lay-off due to the Covid 19 global pandemic.

In an undated letter from the company owner the Complainant was informed of the following:

Logcabins4less has not escaped this crisis. Already there is a significant downturn in our daily business trends and ever growing risk of infection to us all. As a result of this, the company has no other option but to issue this letter to inform you all staff that unfortunately we have to lay off all staff members effective from Wednesday 18th March 2020 until further notice.

In keeping with our commitment to our staff, this will be reviewed at the end of the month and all staff will be informed of the outcome at that stage.

Logcabins4less would like to thank you for your support and loyalty and look forward to your continued support and allegiance on the road for continued success and growth when we reopen after the Covid-19 crisis.

Yours sincerely….

This was the only letter received by the Complainant.

The Complainant sent several text messages to the Respondent during the months of May, June, July and August 2020. The Respondent did inform the Complainant that he would not be bringing him back form lay off, his position no longer existed. The Complainant informed the hearing that new staff had been hired during this period.

The Respondent sent one text to the Complainant confirming that any monies owing to him would be paid.

This did not happen.

The Complainant informed the hearing that the business is now closed and he had heard that the owner had left the country.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The Respondent did not attend the hearing of the complaint.

The Respondent was written to in relation to the arrangements for the hearing.

On 23rd February 202 the accountants for the Respondent sent an email to the Workplace Relations Commission advising that they had received correspondence from the Workplace Relations Commission dated 18th January 2021. This email from the accountants stated that they had received the correspondence and that they would make a submission in connection with the case on or before close of business on Friday 05 March 2021.

No such submission was ever received by the Workplace Relations Commission.

Findings and Conclusions:

In the absence of any evidence to the contrary I accept the evidence given by the Complainant on the day of the hearing of the complaint.

CA – 00040937 – 001 - Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 12 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973.

The Complainant was entitled to two weeks’ notice of the termination of his employment with the Respondent.

I now order the Respondent to pay the Complainant a gross payment of €1200 in lieu of this notice.

CA – 00040937 – 002 - Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997.

The Complainant is entitled to payment for four Public Holidays and I now order the Respondent to pay the Complainant a gross sum of €480 in lieu of these Public Holidays.

CA – 00040937 – 003 – Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997.

The Complainant informed the hearing that on the termination of his employment he had an outstanding holiday balance of 1 week.

I now order the Respondent to make a gross payment of €600 to the Complainant in lieu of these untaken annual leave days.

CA – 00040937 – 004 - Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991.

The Complainant informed the hearing that he was not paid for two days he worked on 26th and 27th March 2020. This complaint was received by the Workplace Relations Commission on 12th November 2020. The complaint as presented is outside the statutory time period and therefore I must find that it is not well founded.

CA – 00040937 – 005 - Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967.

The Complainant is entitled to a statutory redundancy payment based on the following information:

Start Date: 18th May 2018.

End date: In or around mid-September 2020. Had been on lay off since 18th March 2020 due to Covid pandemic.

Weekly hours worked – 40

Weekly wage paid - €600.

I now order the Respondent to make this statutory payment to the Complainant.

All payments should be made to the Complainant within 42 days from the date of this decision.

Decision:

Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint(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.