ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00038056

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Parties	William Garcia	Invictus Event Management and Consultancy Ltd. T/A Isecure

Representatives

Self-represented

Complaints:

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991	CA-00049506-001	04/04/2022
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 12 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973	CA-00049506-002	04/04/2022

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 13/09/2022

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Lefre de Burgh

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 following the referral of the complaints to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaints and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaints. All evidence was given under oath or affirmation and parties were given the opportunity to cross-examine each other’s evidence.

Background:

The Complainant was employed by the Respondent as a security officer in March 2022. The Complainant alleges that there are outstanding wages ‘properly payable’ to him under the Payment of Wages Act. The Complainant further alleges that he received no notice and no notice pay, upon the termination of his employment.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The Complainant represented himself and gave evidence that he answered an ad on LinkedIn for a security officer role at the Respondent Company.

Having been offered a full-time position working for the Respondent, the Complainant worked for a few days as a security guard on a film set location, for the Respondent company, which provides security to events including film sets, in March 2022.

The Complainant alleges that he was then let go summarily, as there was duplication of security on the site to which he had been assigned. It is the Complainant’s case that he was never paid for the work he did despite being issued with payslips. It is the Complainant’s case that he received no notice and no notice pay.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

Mr. Darren Service appeared for the Respondent company.

The Respondent company denies terminating the Complainant’s employment.

It is the Respondent’s position that, in respect of the Payment of Wages Act claim, the Complainant is correct – that he was not paid for the work done, despite being issued payslips – and the monies are outstanding.

In respect of the issue of notice pay, the Respondent asserts that even if the Complainant’s employment had been terminated, which it denies, the Complainant is not entitled to statutory notice pay, as he had fewer than thirteen (13) weeks’ service, as required under the relevant legislation in order to be eligible for statutory minimum notice pay.

Findings and Conclusions:

CA-00049506-001: It is common case that there are outstanding wages owed in the gross amount of €518.15 (two payslips each in the amount of €433.80 + €84.35 respectively).

CA-00049506-002: Under s. 4 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act 1973, an employee has to have been in the employer’s ‘continuous service for a period of thirteen weeks or more’ in order to come within its provisions.

Decision:

Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaints in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.

CA-00049506-001 – This claim is well founded and I direct the Respondent to pay the Complainant outstanding gross pay in the amount of €518.15 (€433.80 + €84.35).

CA-00049506-002 – This claim is not well founded, as the Complainant has insufficient service - less than thirteen (13) weeks – in order to be eligible for statutory minimum notice under the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act 1973.

Dated: 13-01-2023

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Lefre de Burgh

Key Words:

Payment of Wages; Minimum Notice;