ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00041227

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Parties	Joyce Dignam	Buddy Platform (Europe) Limited

Representatives

Complaint(s):

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967	CA-00052409-001	25/08/2022

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 27/02/2023

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Niamh O'Carroll

Procedure:

In accordance withSection 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2014 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.

Background:

The Complaint’s role was made redundant however she did not receive a redundancy payment.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The Complainant commenced working for the Respondent on 17 June 2020. Her agreed salary was €4,539.00 ( gross) per month. On 5th August 2022 she received an email stating that due to a lack of funding her role was being made redundancy with effect from 5th August 2022. To date she has not been paid her redundancy entitlement.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

Martin Carroll appeared on behalf of the Respondent. He stated that he was a director of the Company. The parent company, based in Australia, went into receivership in 2022. They then ceased funding the Irish entity. Following on from that, the Complainant’s role was made redundant, due to lack of funds to pay salaries. The Respondent company remains live on the CRO and will remain so until the last remaining director David McLoughlin takes the necessary steps to remove it from the register. Mr. Carroll stated that there are no funds available to pay the Complainant’s redundancy.

Findings and Conclusions:

Having considered the evidence given by both Mr. Carroll and Ms. Dignam following the affirmation, I am satisfied that a genuine redundancy situation existed and that the Complainant’s role, which commenced on 17th June 2020, was made redundant on 5 August 2022. The Complainant’s agreed contractual salary was € 4,539.00 (gross) per month.

Decision:

Section 39 of the, Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 – 2012 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under that Act.

The complaint is well founded. The Complainant is entitled to a redundancy payment as set out above.

Dated: 11th April 2023

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Niamh O'Carroll

Key Words:

Redundancy. Receivership. Lack of funding.