ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00045277

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Parties	Raymond Ward	Dawnfus Ltd t/a Kb Services

Representatives

Self-represented

Complaint:

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-00056125-001	17/04/2023

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 03/10/2023

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Bríd Deering

Procedure:

In accordance with s 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2022 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 and to present any evidence relevant to the complaint.

The Respondent did not attend the hearing. I was satisfied that a registered letter had issued to the registered office of the Respondent Company notifying the Respondent of the date, time, and location of the hearing. Having waited a reasonable period to accommodate a late arrival by the Respondent, I proceeded with the hearing in the absence of the Respondent. The hearing was held in public at the Carlow Hearings Rooms. The Complainant was self-represented and was sworn in.

Background:

The Complainant submits that he is entitled to a redundancy payment.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

Evidence of the Complainant (under affirmation)

The Complainant submitted that he was hired on 16 November 2020 as a driver. In January 2023 the Respondent told the Complainant that he was closing the business. The Complainant was given two weeks’ notice of dismissal and he worked out the notice period. The Complainant’s last working day was 3 February 2023. At the time of his dismissal the Complainant’s gross weekly wage was €955.45. The Complainant submitted that he worked continuously since his start date with the Respondent and was never laid-off during that time. The Complainant submitted that he sent an RP77 to the Respondent on 5 March 2023 but he did not receive a response. The Complainant did eventually speak with the Respondent’s accountant. The accountant asked the Complainant for more time to make the redundancy payment. However, the Complainant did not receive the redundancy payment as promised and his subsequent calls were not returned.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

There was no attendance at the hearing by, or on behalf of, the Respondent. No communication was received by the WRC from the Respondent to give a reason for non-attendance at the hearing.

Findings and Conclusions:

Law

The Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 – 2022 (“the Acts”) sets out the general right to a redundancy payment. Section 7(1) provides:

“An employee, if he is dismissed by his employer by reason of redundancy or is laid off or kept on short-time for the minimum period, shall, subject to this Act, be entitled to the payment of moneys which shall be known (and are in this Act referred to) as redundancy payment provided— (a) he has been employed for the requisite period, and (b) he was an employed contributor in employment which was insurable for all benefits under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1966, immediately before the date of the termination of his employment, or had ceased to be ordinarily employed in employment which was so insurable in the period of four years ending on that date”.

Section 7(5) of the Acts provides:

“In this section requisite period means a period of 104 weeks continuous employment (within the meaning of Schedule 3) . . . .”

Section 7(2) of the Acts provides:

“For the purposes of subsection (1), an employee who is dismissed shall be taken to be dismissed by reason of redundancy if for one or more reasons not related to the employee concerned the dismissal is attributable wholly or mainly to— (a) the fact that his employer has ceased, or intends to cease, to carry on the business for the purposes 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 . . . .”

Findings

This is a complaint under the Acts for a redundancy payment. Based on the uncontested evidence of the Complainant, I find that the Complainant’s employment was terminated by reason of redundancy within the meaning of s 7(2)(a) of the Acts, and that the Complainant is entitled to a redundancy payment in accordance with the following criteria:

Commencement date of employment: 16 November 2020.

End date of employment: 3 February 2023.

Gross weekly wage: €600 (as per the cap).

Periods of non-reckonable lay-off: None.

Decision:

Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 – 2022 requires that I decide in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under the Acts.

I decide that the Complainant is entitled to a redundancy payment under the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2022 in accordance with the following criteria:

Employment start date: 16 November 2020.

Employment end date: 3 February 2023.

Gross weekly remuneration: €600 (as per the cap).

This award is made subject to the Complainant having been in insurable employment under the Social Welfare Acts during the relevant period.

Dated: 4th October 2023

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Bríd Deering

Key Words:

Statutory Redundancy Payment. No show Respondent.