Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Mark Coyle

Cea Architects

Representatives

No Appearance by or on behalf of the Complainant   

 No Appearance by or on behalf of the Complainant

Act

Complaint Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994

CA-00062677-004

09/04/2024

On 9 April 2024, the Complainant, an Architectural Assistant submitted a complaint that he had not received a statement in writing on his terms of employment during his employment tenure of 26 February 2024 to 19 March 2024. He introduced himself as a Lay Litigant who did not require any special facilities when attending a hearing.

The Respondent was placed on notice of the claim on 26 April 2024.

Both Parties were invited to an in person hearing in Cork at 10 am on 26 August 2024.

Neither Party responded to the WRC request for a written statement or submission.

Neither Party attended the hearing.

The Complainant submitted a complaint form that he had requested a contract of employment on his first day of employment.

He continued to request that contract, but it did not materialise.

The Complainant wrote that he resigned on 19 March 2024 as he contended that his rights had been breached in the absence of his receiving a contract.

The Complainant did not attend the hearing and he did not submit any material details of his claim i.e. pay slip, record of employment as requested.  

He wrote that he had been denied payment on leaving as he had not given four weeks’ notice.

On the morning of the hearing, I awaited the arrival of both Parties to hearing, no request to postpone the hearing had been made.

I waited for 20 minutes, but neither Party showed at hearing. Neither Party submitted an excuse for that absence during the hearing time allowed of 10 am to 11 am.

After 12 noon, I received a copy of an email dated 20 August 2024 which originated from the Complainant seeking to change to an online hearing as he would be unable to attend the hearing.

This email was not incorporated into any of the formal applications available to both Parties to postpone the hearing. These were notified to both Parties on the Notification of Hearing letters dated July 11, 2024.

I have had to record the complainant as a nonappearance in his own case. This is a disappointing development.

The Respondent is described as an Architects Business and has not engaged in the claim at any juncture since its registration with the WRC ion 9 April 2024.

The Respondent has not filed a defence in the case and has not appeared at hearing.

I find this lack of engagement as unreasonable in a statutory claim.

I have been requested to make a decision in a claim of contravention of section 3 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994.

In reaching my decision, I have had regard for my jurisdiction drawn from both section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 and Sections 3 and 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994.

Written statement of terms of employment.

3.— (1) An employer shall, not later than one month after the commencement of an employee’s employment with the employer, give or cause to be given to the employee a statement in writing containing the following particulars of the terms of the employee’s employment, 

And

Section 3(1A) Without prejudice to subsection (1), an employer shall, not later than 5 days after the commencement of an employee’s employment with the employer, give or cause to be given to the employee a statement in writing containing the following particulars of the terms of the employee’s employment, that is to say:

(a) the full names of the employer and the employee.

(b) the address of the employer in the State or, where appropriate, the address of the principal place of the relevant business of the employer in the State or the registered office (within the meaning of the Companies Act 2014);

(c) in the case of a temporary contract of employment, the expected duration thereof or, if the contract of employment is for a fixed term, the date on which the contract expires.

(d) the remuneration, including the initial basic amount, any other component elements, if applicable, indicated separately, the frequency and method of payment of the remuneration to which the employee is entitled and the pay reference period for the purposes of the National Minimum Wage Act 2000.

(e) the number of hours which the employer reasonably expects the employee to work—

(i) per normal working day, and

(ii) per normal working week.

(f) where sections 4B to 4E (in so far as they are in operation) of the Payment of Wages Act 1991 apply to the employer, the employer’s policy on the manner in which tips or gratuities and mandatory charges (within the meaning of section 1 of that Act) are treated,

(g) the place of work or, where there is no fixed or main place of work, a statement specifying that the employee is employed at various places or is free to determine his or her place of work or to work at various places.

(h) either—

(i) the title, grade, nature or category of work for which the employee is employed, or

(ii) a brief specification or description of the work.

(i) the date of commencement of the employee’s contract of employment.

(j) any terms or conditions relating to hours of work (including overtime).

(k) where a probationary period applies, its duration and condition

(1B) Where a statement under subsection (1A) contains an error or omission, the statement shall be regarded as complying with the provisions of that subsection if it is shown that the error or omission was made by way of a clerical mistake or was otherwise made accidentally and in good faith.

(2) Each statement referred to in subsection (1) and (1A) shall be given to an employee notwithstanding that the employee’s employment ends before the end of the period within which the statement is required to be given.

(3) The particulars specified in paragraphs (d), (j) and (k) of subsection (1A) or paragraphs (h), (j), (k), (l), (n) and (q) of subsection (1) may be given to the employee in the form of a reference to provisions of statutes or instruments made under statute or of any other laws or of any administrative provisions or collective agreements, governing those particulars which the employee has reasonable opportunities of reading during the course of the employee’s employment or which are reasonably accessible to the employee in some other way.

(4) A statement furnished by an employer under subsection (1) or (1A) shall be signed and dated by or on behalf of the employer.

(5) A copy of a statement furnished under this section shall be retained by the employer during the period of the employee's employment and for a period of 1 year thereafter.

The Hearing opened in this case at 10 am on 26 August 2024 in Cork. Neither Party was in attendance. Neither Party sent an excuse or even an explanation for their nonappearance.

A number of hours later during August 26, 2024, I discovered an earlier notification from the complainant side which sought to redesignate the hearing to a Remote hearing, but this was not processed under official pathway of seeking a postponement.

The complainant has erred in his nonappearance at hearing. A scheduled hearing proceeds unless a postponement is granted.

A Postponement has not been granted.

The Respondent has failed to engage in the claim from the outset.

I have found that the nonappearance of both parties to be unhelpful and a barrier to my Inquiry in accordance with the Workplace Relations Act 2015.

I must conclude that the claim is not well founded through the failure of the complainant to appear at hearing to give evidence in his own case.

Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.

Section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994, requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with section 3 of that Act.

I have found that the claim is not well founded, through the failure of the complainant to give evidence in his own case.

Terms and Conditions of Employment