FULL RECOMMENDATION
SECTION 15 (1), PROTECTION OF EMPLOYEES (FIXED-TERM WORK) ACT, 2003 PARTIES: WESTAIR AVIATION LIMITED (REPRESENTED BY HOLMES O MALLEY SEXTON LLP) - AND - MR LANCE DUTTON (REPRESENTED BY ORGANIC HRM) DIVISION:
SUBJECT: 1.Appeal Of Adjudication Officer Decision No(s)ADJ-00028669 CA-00038590-007 DETERMINATION: This is an appeal by the Respondent of an Adjudication Officer’s decision. The Adjudication Officer held that the complaint was well founded and awarded compensation of €2,000. The Worker’s representative submissions covered all his complaints under various pieces of legislation without defining the specific issues or sections of the acts being relied on or the section of the submission that were relevant to a particular complaint. At the commencement of the hearing the Court sought clarification in respect of each of the specific complaints. In respect of this complaint the Court was advised that the issue was that the Respondent had failed to inform him of opportunities for permanent employment. It is the Complainant’s position that his employment came to an end by way of unfair dismissal on the 12thFebruary 2020. This case is linked to cases HSC/22/1, CD/22/160 ECD/22/1 and CD/22/159. Cases UD/22/98 and ECP/22/1 were withdrawn in the course of the hearing. Summary of Complainant’s submission Section 10 of the Act provides that an employer shall inform fixed term workers of vacancies that become available to ensure that he has the same opportunities to secure a permanent position as other employees. The Complainants representative in her written submission to the Court states that the Respondent has not complied with the requirements of section 10 f the Act, as he was not given any alternative employment or opportunity. Another pilot who had left and then was reinstated and the Complainant was not offered his post. Summary of Respondent’s submission The Complaint has failed to identify a breach of section 10 of the Act within the cognisable period. The Respondent can only assume he is referring to the situation that arose whereby the Respondent was engaging with three pilots in respect of redundancies arising from the lost of a major contract. A member of ground operations staff resigned their position and as part of the redundancy process one of the pilots who had ground operations experience was redeployed to that role while also continuing to be on call to fly small aircraft if required. The Complainant did not have the relevant experience for the ground operations role and was therefore not considered for redeployment to that role. Discussion and determination. Section 10 of the Act requires that a fixed term worker should have the same opportunities as other employees to secure a permanent position. It was not disputed that the person who was redeployed into the position had previously worked in a similar role and that the Complainant had not. The Complainant failed to identify an incident where he was treated differently to other staff because of his fixed term status and therefore his complaint must fail. The appeal succeeds. The decision of the adjudication officer is overturned. The Court so determines.
NOTE Enquiries concerning this Determination should be addressed to David Campbell, Court Secretary. |
