Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Predrag  Grubisa

Ina's Kitchen Desserts Limited (t/a Brodericks)

Representatives

Barry Crushell, Crushell & Co Solicitors

Act

Complaint Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991

CA-00049485-001

02/04/2022

The complainant lived in Italy in 2021. On 25 August 2021, he applied for a job via a Named Recruitment company with the respondent. The complainant states that when he applied for this position, he had the intention of moving permanently to Ireland.

On 24 September 2021, the complainant was offered the job and was provided with a written contract of employment. The complainant signed and returned the contract to Mr. Kearney of the respondent on 27 September 2021. It was submitted that on 28 September, Mr Kearney confirmed that he had received the signed contract from the complainant. Having received this confirmation, the complainant began the process of relocating his family to Ireland. The complainant stated that he cancelled his lease in Italy, his wife resigned from her job and he took his child out of school.

The complainant asserts that on 4 October 2021, he was informed that the ownership of the company had changed and therefore the job he was offered was no longer available.  The complainant submitted that section 9 of the contract of employment which he signed makes provision for termination of notice. The Notice Period provided is 3 months.

The complainant stated that as a result of the situation he found himself in, his family was forced to separate. The complainant went to live with his parents in Croatia; his wife was unable to stay in Croatia because she did not have a permit which resulted in the complainant’s wife and son had to live with her parents in Serbia. The complainant states that his son was unable to return to school until February 2022.

It was submitted that as the payment in lieu notice was never paid, the respondent is in breach of the contract and the Payment of Wages Act, 1991.

The respondent states that the complainant was offered a position of Packaging & Sustainability Technologist with the company via a Named Recruitment company. The complainant received a contract on 24 September, he signed the contract and the contract was dated 24 September. The complainant returned the contract on 27 September via email to Mr. Kearney. The respondent asserts that the complainant who was being hired by BDO, the previous management team had a provisional start date agreed as 26 October.

The respondent states that at this juncture, the Broderick’s were in the process of buying the business back from BDO. During this process, the Broderick’s had requested that no further staff should be taken on until the Broderick’s had acquired the business. The respondent states that BDO did not honour this request and were trying to take on staff including the complainant during the transition period between the Broderick’s takeover.

The respondent states that on 1 October, the Broderick’s family were made aware that the complainant had been hired the previous week. The Broderick’s family requested that the complainant’s contract be terminated. It states that the purpose of this termination was to help the Broderick’s family streamline the business, make the business more viable and ensure the survival of the respondent company.  

Complaint submitted under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991.

The complaint relates to the non payment in lieu notice that the complainant claims he was entitled to be paid.

Section 5 (1) and (6) of the Act provides as follows:

5.— (1) An employer shall not make a deduction from the wages of an employee (or receive any payment from an employee) unless—

(a) the deduction (or payment) is required or authorised to be made by virtue of any statute or any instrument made under statute,

 (b) the deduction (or payment) is required or authorised to be made by virtue of a term of the employee's contract of employment included in the contract before, and in force at the time of, the deduction or payment, or

(c) in the case of a deduction, the employee has given his prior consent in writing to it.

(2) …

(3) …

(4) …

(5) …

(6) Where—

(a) the total amount of any wages that are paid on any occasion by an employer to an employee is less than the total amount of wages that is properly payable by him to the employee on that occasion (after making any deductions therefrom that fall to be made and are in accordance with this Act), or

(b) none of the wages that are properly payable to an employee by an employer on any occasion (after making any such deductions as aforesaid) are paid to the employee, then, except in so far as the deficiency or non-payment is attributable to an error of computation, the amount of the deficiency or non-payment shall be treated as a deduction made by the employer from the wages of the employee on the occasion.

Having carefully examined the within complaint I find that the complainant was not an employee of the respondent company. I note the revocation of the job offer on 4 October by Mr. Kearney. Accordingly in the circumstances of the within matter, I find that there is no breach in respect of the Payment of Wages Act. I find that the within complaint is not well-founded.

I find that the within complaint under the Payment of Wages Act is not well-founded.

Payment of Wages Act