Complainant

Respondent

Parties

June  McCarthy

Premiere Conferencing (Ireland) Limited

Representatives

Ms Orla Meere BL instructed by Eileen Hayes Hallissey & Partners LLP

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-00053830-001

23/11/2022

The Complainant commenced employment with the Respondent on 21 June 2004 and was thereafter appointed to the position of Project Manager. The Respondent is a Private company limited by shares, having its registered office at Ludgate Hub, Old Bakery, Townsend Street, Skibbereen, County Cork. The Complainant was subsequently promoted within the Organisation and ultimately was appointed to the Position of Senior Vice President of Marketing and Product with a title of Chief Transformation Officer. A period of her employment was spent in the United States under secondment.  Her salary at the date of termination of contract was €4682.69 per week. Any lump sum award is capped at €600 per week.

The Complainant submits that the Respondent  put the incorrect date on the Statutory Redundancy Payments Scheme form  for notice of redundancy and despite being requested by the Complainant  to amend the date, no action was taken by the Respondent. The Complainant asserts she cannot now claim her redundancy sum and is seeking award under the Redundancy Payments  Acts 1967 – 2014  (The Acts)  for the correct statutory redundancy payment based on the precise relevant dates.  

Summary of the Evidence of the Complainant.

The Complainant gave evidence under affirmation and exhibited supporting documentation on her complaint. On 16 June 2022 under the cover of email the Complainant was advised that her position was being made redundant with effect from 01 July 2022, the Complainant’s notice period pursuant to her Contract of Employment being 3 months. The Complainant was advised that the Respondent was not in a position to discharge her statutory redundancy but that an application would be progressed through the Department of Social Protection Fund for the purposes of discharging the liability.

On 28 July 2022, the Respondent sent a copy of the Statutory Redundancy Payments Scheme Employee Declaration (exhibited) to the Complainant for review. By reply dated the 04 August 2022, the Complainant raised the issue that the date of notice of termination was incorrect.

The Complainant requested the Respondent to make the required amendments to the Declaration to allow her to progress her application through the Department of Social Protection Fund. The Respondent replied by email of 11 August 2022 and indicated:

"…the dates included reflects the details of your redundancy letter issued to you in relation to you. The processing of your redundancy payment will not commence until I upload the signed form and/or email from you confirming the data is correct"

This is entirely at odds with the Complainants understanding of the matter and the notice of redundancy received on 16 June 2022 had an attached letter dated the 29 March 2022 which the Complainant states was not previously furnished to her. This erroneous calculation by the Respondent and incorrect assumption of receipt of a letter has frustrated the Complainant’s ability to obtain a redundancy payment.

On 5 August 2022, the representative for the Complainant again wrote to the Respondent highlighting the above issues in respect of the Declaration, calling on them to make the appropriate amendments, to reflect the correct date of notice of termination. No response was forthcoming from the Respondent.

Despite the foregoing, the Complainant submits that the Respondent has failed, refused and or neglected to properly complete the Declaration form, and as a result, the Complainant has not received any redundancy payment.

Legal Argument:

The Complainant cites section 7 of the Acts to show that the Complainant’s dismissal is a valid redundancy under the Act where it provides:-

7.-(1) 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 he has been employed for the requisite period, and 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.

The Complainant asserts that responsibility to pay Statutory Redundancy lies with the Respondent , pursuant to the Acts. Where an employer can prove to the satisfaction of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection that it is unable to pay Statutory Redundancy to an eligible applicant, the Department will make payments directly to that employee and may seek to recover  against the Employer independently. In the event that an Employer refuses to engage with an employee in this way, the Complainant submits, it is open to the employee to bring an appropriate complaint before the Workplace Relations Commission.

The Complainant wishes it to be noted that while the Respondent Company is designated "normal" on a search carried out the company’s registration office it is the Complainants understanding that the Respondent is no longer trading and  that would appear to be verified by the fact that the Respondent website states "PGI is no longer in operation".

I am reasonably satisfied that all conceivable efforts  were made to contact the Respondent with login details for the hearing, but the Respondent failed to attend. No evidence of formal insolvency of the Respondent company was put before me.

In the uncontested evidence put before me  I am satisfied that the termination of the Complainant’s contract is one of valid redundancy  that comes under the Act. Furthermore, the Complainant gave convincing evidence that she did not receive the purported  letter of notice of 29 March 2022, as previously asserted by the Respondent in correspondence. I am satisfied that she did not receive notice on the aforementioned date  and instead I conclude that the correct date of notice of redundancy  to be  16 June 2022.

CA-00053830-001.

I decide that the complainant is entitled to a redundancy lump sum payment pursuant to the Redundancy Payments Act, in accordance with the following criteria:

Date of Notice of Termination: 16 June 2022.

Employment start date: 21 June 2004

Employment end date: 01 July 2022

Gross weekly remuneration: €4682.69 (€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.

Redundancy Payments Acts 1967-2012, Date of Notice.