ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00032678
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Brendan Dempsey | Napier Couriers Limited t/a Fastway Couriers Ireland |
Representatives | Audrey Goode Byrne & O'Sullivan Solicitors LLP |
|
Complaint(s):
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 | CA-00043239-001 | 24/03/2021 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 16/08/2021
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Marguerite Buckley
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 following the referral of the complaint to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint.
This matter was heard by way of remote hearing pursuant to the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 and SI 359/20206, which designates the WRC as a body empowered to hold remote hearings.
Background:
This complaint is associated with ADJ-00032676. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The Complainant commenced working with the Respondent on 5 November 2020 as a general operative. He was placed in the workplace by an agency. He worked for 21 days without a break and did not receive payment for this work. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The Respondent agreed that the Complainant knew the layout of the warehouse / depot and described accurately where to go and sign in and the workings of the workplace. It submitted that the Complainant was not hired directly by the Respondent. It noted that the Complainant had by his own evidence agreed that a recruitment agency had "sent him over". The Respondent maintained that the Complainant was not its employee and the Complainant had no cause of action against it. By means of background information, it submitted that there was no 12-hour shift in the workplace. It confirmed that agency workers worked five days per week and were provided with their breaks. |
Findings and Conclusions:
I accept the evidence of the Complainant. The working relationship he described was that of an agency worker, employed by an agency and assigned to work for the Respondent. While the Respondent managed him on a day-to-day basis, I find that it was not his employer for the purposes of this Act. |
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.
The Complainant was not an employee of the Respondent. This claim is not well founded. |
Dated: 25th May 2022
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Marguerite Buckley
Key Words:
No relationship of employment |