ADJ-00031143

Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Adrian Ryan

AB Wood Products Limited, in Liquidation

Representatives

Not represented

 Not represented

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-00041502-001

10/12/2020

Mr Ryan said that he commenced employment with the Galtee Wood company on October 28th 2003 and that he transferred to AB Wood Products Limited in May 2014.  He was a dispatch driver at the company’s factory in Ballylanders, County Limerick.  On July 7th 2018, a fire at his place of work resulted in him being laid off.  He got another job in an adjacent factory that produced mattresses.  Although Mr Ryan expected to return to work when the facility in Ballylanders re-opened, AB Wood Products Limited was placed into liquidation on February 18th 2020, when the company ceased trading and all the employees were made redundant.  Mr Ryan claims that he is entitled to a redundancy payment.

In advance of the hearing, Mr Ryan submitted a letter dated May 1st 2014, from his former employer, Galtee Veneer Bonding Limited.  This letter confirms that, in accordance with the European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003, in the event of the company being sold, his employment would transfer to the new owners and that his continuity of service would be protected.  It is apparent therefore, that in May 2014, Mr Ryan transferred from Galtee Veneer Bonding Limited to AB Wood Products Limited and that his service is continuous from October 28th 2003.

The factory where Mr Ryan worked in Ballylanders was destroyed by a fire on the night of July 7th 2018.  He said that he was advised by a company director that his job was secure and that he would be called back in when the factory re-commenced production.  He said that he was offered a job in a mattress company and he started working there, earning the minimum wage.  He said that, although he was given a P45 by AB Wood Products, the purpose of this was so that he could be set up on the payroll of the mattress company.  He said that he was reassured that his employment was not terminated and he expected to return to AB Wood Products Limited when production started again.

At the hearing, Mr Ryan said that, in June 2020, he heard that the company was going into liquidation.  He applied for a redundancy lump sum, but this was refused by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP), because his application was submitted more than 52 weeks after he said that his employment was terminated.  On the form to apply for redundancy, Mr Ryan indicated that his employment ended on the night of the fire, on July 7th 2018.  In his submission in advance of the hearing, and in his evidence at the hearing, he said that his employment was never terminated.  Until he was informed that the company was going into liquidation, Mr Ryan said that he expected to return to work at his old job.

Mr Byrne was appointed as the liquidator for AB Wood Products and he informed me at the hearing that the company was placed into liquidation on February 18th 2020.  Mr Byrne said that the fact that Mr Ryan was issued with a P45 suggests that his employment with AB Wood Products was terminated shortly after the fire on July 7th 2018.  He said that the employment of all the employees was terminated due to redundancy on February 18th 2020.

Section 7 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 (“the Act”), sets out five specific circumstances in which an employee may be entitled to a redundancy payment, the first of which is:

“(a) the 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[.]”

A definition of continuous service is set out at Section 4 of Schedule 3 of the Act: 

“…employment shall be taken to be continuous unless it is terminated by dismissal or by the employee’s voluntarily leaving the employment.” 

It is evident that Mr Ryan did not voluntarily leave his employment, and also, that he was not dismissed.  Although Mr Ryan commenced working with a new employer in 2018, it is apparent from the evidence submitted by both parties at the hearing that he was not ceased as an employee before the company was placed into liquidation on February 18th 2020.

The High Court decision in Bolger v Showerings (Ireland) Ltd[1] was concerned with absence due to illness, but, in his findings, Mr Justice Lardner held that there is an onus on an employer to stay in touch with an absent employee and to follow certain procedures to effect a dismissal.  It is clear that, in the case on which I am required to adjudicate, the complainant was not dismissed and that he did not resign.  Until the company was placed into liquidation on February 18th 2020, he expected to resume employment with AB Wood Products,.  I am satisfied therefore, that the application for a redundancy payment which Mr Ryan submitted to the respondent on July 1st 2020 was submitted within the timeframe of 52 weeks which is stipulated at section 24(b) of the Act.

In accordance with the findings which I have set out above, I decide that Mr Ryan is entitled to a statutory redundancy lump sum based on his weekly wages of €480.00 and his service from the date he commenced with Galtee Veneer Bonding Limited on October 28th 2003, until he is formally dismissed by AB Wood Products Limited, which was placed into liquidation on February 18th 2020.

Redundancy, liquidation