ADJUDICATION OFFICER RECOMMENDATION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00039621
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | Bakery Assistant | Bakery Owner |
Representatives | The complainant did not attend and was not represented at the hearing |
|
Complaint(s):
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under the Industrial Relations Acts | CA-00048455-001 | 01/02/2022 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 21/02/2023
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Emer O'Shea
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Acts 1969] following the referral of the complaint(s)/dispute(s) to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint(s)/dispute(s) and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint(s)/dispute(s).
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The claimant did not attend and was not represented at the hearing |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The respondent accompanied by his wife attended the hearings at the WRC Offices in Sligo on the 21st Nov.2022 and the 21st Feb 2023 |
Recommendation
Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1969 requires that I make a recommendation in relation to the dispute.]
On the 4th.October 2022, the parties were notified that the complaint would be heard at a face-to-face hearing in the WRC offices in Sligo on the 21st Nov 2022. On the 18th.Nov. 2022, the complainant advised the WRC that he would be 35/40 minutes late for the hearing on the 21st.Nov. 2022 owing to transport difficulties. On Sunday the 20thNovember 2022, the claimant wrote to the WRC to advise that he could not attend the hearing scheduled for the 21st.November because he had a bereavement in the UK on Saturday. The respondent and his wife attended for the hearing on the 21stNov 2022. On the 13th.Dec. 2022, both parties were notified by the WRC that the hearing would be relisted. On the 16th.Jan 2023, the parties were notified that the complaint would be heard at a face-to-face hearing in Sligo on the 21st.Feb. 2023 at 1.30p.m. On the 8th.February 2023, the complainant wrote to the WRC requesting this “to be an online hearing via zoom or something I might have work commitments out of Ireland on that day I don’t know yet but I would just like to enquire to a possibility just in case I do. I want hearing if this request is not possible I will arrange and stick to the hearing date in Sligo”.
I have reviewed the entirety of the complainant’s interactions with the WRC in relation to both hearings. I am satisfied that the claimant was duly notified of the date time and place at which the hearing to investigate the complaint would be held. While I acknowledge that the complainant did seek a virtual hearing in his communication of the 8th Feb 2023, the claimant did not attend the hearing as scheduled and no application for a postponement- in accordance with WRC guidelines - was submitted in the weeks preceding the hearing. In these circumstances and in the absence of any evidence to the contrary having been adduced before me, I must conclude that the within complaint is not well founded and I decide accordingly. |
Dated: 15th March 2023
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Emer O'Shea
Key Words:
|