ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00052182
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Margaret Walsh | Lifetime Care |
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | {text} | {text} |
Representatives | Self | No attendance |
Complaint(s):
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Regulation 15 of the European Communities (Organisation of Working Time) (Mobile Staff in Civil Aviation) Regulations 2006 - S.I. No. 507 of 2006 | CA-00063502-001 | 14/05/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 45A of the Industrial Relations Act, 1946 | CA-00063502-002 | 14/05/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 45A of the Industrial Relations Act, 1946 | CA-00063502-003 | 14/05/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 | CA-00063502-004 | 14/05/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 | CA-00063502-005 | 14/05/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 Duplicate | CA-00063502-006 | 14/05/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 12 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973 | CA-00063502-007 | 14/05/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 12 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973 | CA-00063502-008 | 14/05/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 | CA-00063502-009 | 14/05/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 | CA-00063502-010 | 14/05/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 | CA-00063502-011 | 14/05/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 | CA-00063502-012 | 14/05/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 | CA-00063502-013 | 14/05/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 | CA-00063502-014 | 14/05/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 | CA-00063502-015 | 14/05/2024 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 03/10/2024
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Janet Hughes
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2014 Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 - 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. On the basis of the information available from the WRC, I am satisfied that every reasonable effort was made to inform the Respondent of the scheduled hearing, including attempted telephone contact and I proceeded with the hearing on this basis.
Background:
The Complainant was employed by the Respondent as a care worker providing weekend work from 2 May 2020 until 5 October 2023. On the latter date she and her colleagues received a Whats App message from Mr. Ken O Sullivan of the Respondent informing them that the business ceased with immediate effect. No statutory payments were received from the Respondent, and neither was there any further contact with the Complainant after the delivery of the Whats App message. A complaint was submitted to the WRC on 14 May 2024. As this date is outside the usual time limit of six months required for a complaint to be submitted to the WRC under Section 41 of the 2015 Act, this issue of the time limit is addressed in the findings and conclusions section below noting that the six-month time limit does not apply to complaints under the Redundancy Payments Act 1967.
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Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The Complainant submitted complaints under the following legislation Payment of Wages Act - unpaid wages and a duplicate complaint. Organisation of Working Time Act Holiday pay and Public Holiday Pay S.I. 507 2006-the Complainant agreed this is not applicable in her case Unfair Dismissals Act-not applicable in this case as the circumstances are covered by the Redundancy Payments Act-i.e., a group compulsory redundancy. Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act – pay in lieu of notice-and a duplicate complaint Industrial Relations Act Section 45A claims which apply to workers in security and contract cleaning and do not apply to the Complainant Redundancy Payments Act 1967-a claim for statutory redundancy -with a duplicate complaint. The Complainant was asked to provide details of her average gross earnings for the first 39 weeks of 2023 for the purposes of this complaint. In an email later, she advised that the average gross amount was €93. At the hearing she advised that her hourly rate of pay was €14. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
There was no contact from the Respondent with the Complainant or with the WRC in relation to these matters. |
Findings and Conclusions:
On the matter of the time limits which apply to those complaints other than the one in respect of statutory redundancy, the Complainant explained that she had approached a Citizens Advice Centre which had advised her after four weeks that they were unsure of her rights as she was a weekend only worker. She and others approached a public representative. Later she was advised to contact the WRC which she did not know about and began completing the complaint in April but was only I a position to finalise the complaint in May. I advised the Complainant that the reasons she provided would not be accepted in other situations as a reasonable basis for extending the time limits beyond the six-month time limit which applied to her complaints in normal circumstances. Whatever difficulties or misunderstandings existed in the initial period after the termination of her employment, the Complainant was aware in April of the option of referring the matter to the WRC but delayed further into May. The majority of her former colleagues did complete complaints in a timely manner, well within the time limit. I accept this is unfortunate given the circumstances in which these complaints arose in the first place where the Complainant and others were discarded by the Respondent leaving them short of wages and other statutory entitlements. However, I cannot ignore the requirements of the legislation purely on sympathy without regard to the law and the general interpretation of how time limits can be extended or circumstances may be regarded as providing a reasonable basis for extending the time limits. The circumstances in this case do not meet the standard of those tests. Workplace Relations Act 2015 (6) Subject to subsection (8), an adjudication officer shall not entertain a complaint referred to him or her under this section if it has been presented to the Director General after the expiration of the period of 6 months beginning on the date of the contravention to which the complaint relates. (8) An adjudication officer may entertain a complaint or dispute to which this section applies presented or referred to the Director General after the expiration of the period referred to in subsection (6) or (7) (but not later than 6 months after such expiration), as the case may be, if he or she is satisfied that the failure to present the complaint or refer the dispute within that period was due to reasonable cause. |
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.
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.
Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 – 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the unfair dismissal claim consisting of a grant of redress in accordance with section 7 of the 1977 Act.
CA-00063502-005 Redundancy Payment Act 1967. The appeal by Margaret Walsh against the decision of the Respondent Lifetime Care Ltd not to pay her statutory redundancy entitlements on termination of her employment is upheld. The following are the relevant details as provided by the Complainant: Date of Commencement 2 May 2020 Date of Termination 5 October 2023 Average Rate of pay for 39 weeks in 2023 €93 and the hourly rate was €14 This decision is based on the employment being insurable as required. CA-00063502-006-Redundancy Payments Act-duplicate of 005 above The following complaints are deemed not well founded as they were not submitted to the WRC within the time limit provided for in Section 41(6) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 or the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 and reasonable grounds were not provided such as to justify an extension of time as provided for under the relevant section(s). CA-00063502-001 Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Regulation 15 of the European Communities (Organisation of Working Time) (Mobile Staff in Civil Aviation) Regulations 2006 - S.I. No. 507 of 2006 CA-00063502-002 Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 45A of the Industrial Relations Act, 1946 CA-00063502-003 Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 45A of the Industrial Relations Act, 1946 CA-00063502-004 Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 CA-00063502-007 Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 12 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973 CA-00063502-008 Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 12 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973 CA-00063502-009 Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 12 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973 CA-00063502-010 Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 12 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973 CA-00063502-011 Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 CA-00063502-012 Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 CA-00063502-013 Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 CA-00063502-014 Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 CA-00063502-015 Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 |
Dated: 04-10-24
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Janet Hughes
Key Words:
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