ADJ-00039827

Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Kealan  Flynn

NUI Galway

Representatives

  Self-represented

Kevin Feighery IBEC

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

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

CA-00048386-001

28/01/2022

This matter was heard by way of remote hearing pursuant to the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2020 and S.I. No. 359/2020 which designates the WRC as a body empowered to hold remote hearings.

The complainant and one witness for the respondent took the affirmation at the start of the hearing.

A member of the public attended this hearing.

The respondent submitted that this complaint was out of time and noted that Section 41 (6) of the Workplace Relations Act allows for a six-month timeframe within which a complaint must be brought.  The respondent noted that this period may be extended to a maximum of twelve months by Section 41(8) of that Act.

The respondent submitted that even were the complainant to discharge the burden of proof that reasonable cause exists for an extension to the six-month deadline, the complaint would still fall outside the timeframe allowed.

The complainant submitted that he was informed of the end of his employment on 8 January 2021.  He submitted that thereafter he engaged with the respondent to try to come to an amicable conclusion, but this approach did not work.

The complainant submitted that this provides reasonable cause to extend the deadline for receipt of complaints.

Section 41 (6) and (8) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 states as follows

(6) Subject to subsection (8), an adjudication officer shall not entertain a complaint referred to him or her under this section if it has been presented to the Director General after the expiration of the period of 6 months beginning on the date of the contravention to which the complaint relates.

(8) An adjudication officer may entertain a complaint or dispute to which this section applies presented or referred to the Director General after the expiration of the period referred to in subsection (6) or (7) (but not later than 6 months after such expiration), as the case may be, if he or she is satisfied that the failure to present the complaint or refer the dispute within that period was due to reasonable cause.

These provisions are mirrored in Section 8(2) of the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 wherein it states that:

(2) A claim for redress under this Act shall be initiated by giving a notice in writing (containing such particulars (if any) as may be specified in regulations under subsection (17) of section 41 of the Act of 2015) to the Director General—

(a) within the period of 6 months beginning on the date of the relevant dismissal, or

(b) within such period not exceeding 12 months from the date of the relevant dismissal as the adjudication officer considers appropriate, in circumstances where the adjudication officer is satisfied that the giving of the notice within the period referred to in paragraph (a) was prevented due to reasonable cause,

The Act allows for an initial timeframe of six months within which a complaint must be lodged. It also allows for an extension of a further six months is allowable where a person was prevented from doing so due to reasonable cause. 

The complainant submitted that his dismissal took place on 8 January 2021 however he lodged his complaint on 28 January 2022 outside the timeframe permitted by either the Workplace Relations Act or the Unfair Dismissals Act.  Having regard to the written and oral submissions of the parties, I find that I am precluded from making a decision in relation to this complaint.

Having regard to the written and oral submissions in relation to this complaint, my decision is that as the complaint was made outside the timeframe comprehended by the Acts, I am precluded from making a decision in relation to this complaint.

Unfair Dismissals Acts – Workplace Relations Act – out of time