ADJ-00036586

Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Aidan  Emerson

Lambda Ltd

Complainant

Respondent

 Parties

Aidan Emerson

Lambda Ltd

Representatives

  Self

 No Show

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-00047764-001

20/12/2021

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977

CA-00047764-002

17/06/2022

The Respondent employer arising from Covid lost a significant amount of business. Unfortunately, they have not been successful in winning new contracts. The Respondent has been on extended lay off since March 2020. The Complainant sent his RP 9 to his employer on or about the beginning of October 2021. The suspension of the right of employees to claim redundancy during lay off as legislated by the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid 19) Act 2022, was lifted from the 30th of September 2021. The date of the complaint lodged with the WRC is the 20th of December 2021. 

The employer stated in correspondence that the Complainant’s employment commenced on the 30th of September 1998.

The Complainant applied for redundancy and served notice on his employer that he would assert his right for a statutory redundancy payment as provided for under the Redundancy Payments Act 1967. He properly served an RP 9 on his employer. The employer has served no counter notice within the statutory timeframe to do so.

The Respondent did not attend the hearing. However, correspondence dated 27th October 2021 from the employer stated that there was no work available and no funds to pay redundancy.

Section 12 of the Redundancy Payment Act 1967 as amended states:

Right to redundancy payment by reason of lay-off or short-time.

12. — (1) An employee shall not be entitled to redundancy payment by reason of having been laid off or kept on short-time unless —

(a) he has been laid off or kept on short time for four or more consecutive weeks or, within a period of thirteen weeks, for a series of six or more weeks of which not more than three were consecutive, and

(b) after the expiry of the relevant period of lay-off or short-time mentioned in paragraph (a) and not later than four weeks after the cessation of the lay-off or short-time, he gives to his employer notice (in this Part referred to as a notice of intention to claim) in writing of his intention to claim redundancy payment in respect of lay-off or short-time.

(2) Where, after the expiry of the relevant period of lay-off or short-time mentioned in subsection (1) ( a ) and not later than four weeks after the cessation of the lay-off or short time, an employee to whom that subsection applies, in lieu of giving to his employer a notice of intention to claim, terminates his contract of employment either by giving him the notice thereby required or, if none is so required, by giving him not less than one week ’ s notice in writing of intention to terminate the contract, the notice so given shall, for the purposes of this Part and of Schedule 2, be deemed to be a notice of intention to claim given in writing to the employer by the employee on the date on which the notice is actually given.

The employee has met the conditions pursuant to section 12 and has notified the employer of his intention to claim redundancy as set out at section 12(2) and subject to 1 weeks’ notice to the employer.

I am satisfied that the complainant is entitled to a redundancy pursuant to the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 as amended based on the following facts:

1.       Start date 30th of September 1998 as per employer’s correspondence dated 27th October 2021.

2.       Contractual termination date allowing for notice 22nd of October 2021

3.       Date of lay-off the 15th of March 2020.

4.       The RP9 Form was served on the employer on or about the 15th of October 2021

5.       Gross weekly wage based on earnings from 1st January to 31st December 2020= €70,044=€1347 gross weekly wage.

Reckonable service under the Redundancy Act 1967 as amended is detailed at Schedule 3:

8. During, and only during, the 3-year period ending with the date of termination of employment, none of the following absences shall be allowable as reckonable service —

 (a) absence in excess of 52 consecutive weeks by reason of an occupational accident or disease within the meaning of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 1993,

(b) absence in excess of 26 consecutive weeks by reason of any illness not referred to in subparagraph (a),

(c) absence by reason of lay-off by the employer.

During lay-off the absence does not count towards reckonable service as detailed on the Gov.ie site and information on Covid Payments and Redundancy:

Any period spent on Jobseeker's Payments or COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment is considered a temporary lay-off. Any period where an employee was laid off is not included as a period of reckonable service when calculating the statutory redundancy payment.

Reckonable service runs from the date of commencement of employment on 15th of June 2002 to the time of lay-off on the 15th of March 2020.

The Act at Schedule 3 provides for pro-rata determination of service:

2. If the total amount of reckonable service is not an exact number of years, the “excess” days shall be credited as a proportion of a year.

Statutory Redundancy is calculated as follows:

Number of years’ service: start date 30th of September 1998 to date of layoff on 15th of March 2020.

Weeks due under the scheme:    (2 weeks per year plus 1 bonus week)

Wage ceiling under Scheme:        €600 per week

Statutory redundancy entitlement: weeks x gross weekly wage = weeks x gross weekly wage

I determine that the complainant is entitled to statutory redundancy based on the facts as detailed

The Complaint is well founded.

I am satisfied that the complainant is entitled to a redundancy pursuant to the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 as amended based on the following facts:

1.       Start date 30th of September 1998 as per employer’s correspondence dated 27th October 2021.

2.       Contractual termination date allowing for employee notice 22nd of October 2021

3.       Date of lay-off the 15th of March 2020.

4.       The RP9 Form was served on the employer on or about the 15th of October 2021

5.       Gross weekly wage based on earnings from 1st January to 31st December 2020= €70,044=€1347 per week.

Lay Off-Redundancy