ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00045298
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Fintan McCrossan | Windhoist Ireland Limited in liquidation Liquidators : Grant Thornton Corporate Finance Limited |
Representatives | The claimant represented himself | Mr.Alan McCarthy attended on behalf of the liquidator |
Complaint(s):
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-00055992-001 | 09/04/2023 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 17/08/2023
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Emer O'Shea
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and/or Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2014 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).
Background:
The complainant was employed by the respondent company Windhoist Ireland Ltd. as a Wind Turbine Technician. The respondent company is a subsidiary of the UK company Windhoist Limited. The complainant commenced employment on the 11th.January 2017 and continued in employment to the 29th.November 2022 when he was made redundant .He submitted that the company were in breach of the Act for failing to pay him his correct redundancy payment which he contends should have recognized his entire service from Jan 2017 to November 2022. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The complainant stated that when he commenced employment with the Company in January 2017 , he was employed by the parent company Windhoist Ltd and paid by the company’s Scottish office. In April of 2019, the claimant learned that as he had been residing in Ireland he should have been employed by Windhoist Ireland Ltd. and correspondence from Windhoist Limited dated the 4th.April 2019 confirming this was submitted into evidence. At this point , the claimant was transferred onto the Irish payroll and from that time , the complainant continued to be paid by Windhoist Ireland Limited until the Irish company went into liquidation on the 29th.November 2022.When he lodged his application to the DSP for redundancy , the complainant’s application was approved for the amount of 3.02 years but did not recognise his previous 2 years’ service from commencement in 2017 when he was paid by the Scottish Office of Windhoist Limited. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The Liquidator’s representative confirmed the complainant’s account of his employment history and stated that the complainant was eventually advised by the company in April 2019 that he would have to transfer across to Windhoist Ireland Ltd. as he resided in Ireland. His role and working arrangements continued as per heretofore .The representative advised that they had made it clear to the DSP that the complainant was entitled to recognition of service to the date of commencement on the 11th.Jan 2017 and had calculated his entitlement to €7,688 but the DSP had not recognised his service with Windhoist Ltd and had only approved the payment o €4,224.00 based on 3.02 years’ service. |
Findings and Conclusions:
I have reviewed the evidence presented at the hearing and note that there is no dispute between the parties in relation to the timeline of events. Through no fault of his own the complainant was incorrectly assigned to the UK payroll and should not be penalised for that error. On the basis that the complainant was living and working in Ireland in the same role from January 2017 to November 2022 I am satisfied that he meets the criteria for redundancy laid down in the Act and consequently I am upholding the complaint. |
Decision:
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint(s)/dispute(s) in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 – 2012 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under that Act.
I find the complainant is entitled to redundancy based on the following criteria; Date of Commencement :11th.January 2017 Date of Termination : 29th.November 2022 Gross Weekly Pay :€1,222.08 This award is made subject to the complainant having been in insurable employment under the Social Welfare Acts during the relevant period. |
Dated: 03rd November 2023
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Emer O'Shea
Key Words:
|
|
|
|