ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00051535
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Amber Dorey | University Of Galway |
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | {text} | {text} |
Representatives |
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Complaint:
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-00063207-001 | 30/04/2024 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 29/07/2024
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Louise Boyle
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2014following the referral of the complaint to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint. The hearing was heard remotely, pursuant to the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2020 and S.I. 359/2020, which designated the Workplace Relations Commission as a body empowered to hold remote hearings.
Parties were advised in advance of the hearing that following the delivery of a judgement of the Supreme Court in Zalewski v Adjudication Officer and WRC, Ireland and the Attorney General [2021] IESC 24 that the hearing would be held in public, that an Adjudication Officer may take evidence under oath or affirmation and reminded that cross examination was permitted. Where submissions were received, they were exchanged. The complainant gave evidence under affirmation and Ms Helen Cashell, Head of Recruitment & Contracts gave evidence under affirmation for the respondent. Ms Sinead Wynne Employee Relations Manager for the respondent also attended.
Background:
The complainant submitted that the respondent has not paid her the redundancy payment that she is owed.
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Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The complainant submitted that she was engaged on a fixed term contract as a Post-Doctoral Researcher and received notice of redundancy on 29/11/2023 and her employment was due to end on 31//12/2023. The complainant said that despite many emails to the respondent they have failed to pay her redundancy payment. She also submitted that she has lost out on job seekers benefit payment as she requires details of the redundancy payment before this can be paid. The complainant submitted that despite contact with the respondent on many occasions including 05/01/2024, 17/01/2024, 06/03/2024, 05/04/2024, 09/04/2024 the respondent did not process her payment. The complainant also outlined that in June 2024 she was provided calculations for a redundancy amount owed to her but the respondent then advised her that a mistake had been made with the calculations and reduced downwards her redundancy calculation.
There was no cross examination of the complainant’s evidence. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The respondent submitted that the complainant was initially employed by the University of Galway from 01/10/2015 and received redundancy on 30/09/2018 and commenced another position on 28/01/2019 with the respondent and this position was made redundant on 31/12/2023. It was outlined that the respondent is required to seek sanction from the state prior to payment of redundancy, however, confusion arose as Dr Dorey was on maternity leave for the final 6 months of her employment and in error was omitted from the respondent’s sanction list.
The respondent has moved to rectify the outstanding payments which requires the complainant to select which option she wishes to proceed with. The reason for the miscalculation of monies was that the complainant had already received redundancy from the University in late 2018 and therefore, the redundancy calculation had to be revised downwards. The options available to the complainant are 2 weeks’ pay per year of service or 3 weeks’ pay per year of service, and they await the complainant’s decision on this and the redundancy payment due to Dr Dorey will be paid to her by the University.
Ms Cashell in evidence said that there were errors in how this was handled and apologised for this and that as the complainant was on maternity leave for the latter end of her employment, she was overlooked in error. Ms Cashell agreed that the complainant had raised the matter through many emails which had been escalated to her and that she would look to ensure that there were lessons learned from this to ensure that it would not happen again. She said they have provided the complainant with a letter to assist her with seeking jobseekers benefit back payments and would give any other assistance that was needed.
There was no cross examination of Ms Cashell. |
Findings and Conclusions:
The complainant submits that she did not receive redundancy payment despite many requests to the respondent and that this has also impacted her as she could not claim job seekers benefit. The complainant submitted that she should also be paid the higher redundancy offer that was made to her. The respondent accepts that there is a redundancy payment owing to the complainant and apologised for the delays and the errors and that now they are awaiting the complainant to select which option she wants to proceed with.
On the day of the hearing the complainant submitted that she should have been paid a higher redundancy payment. The complaint that was received by the WRC on 30/04/2024 was that she did not receive a redundancy payment and that is the complaint within my jurisdiction. Taking into consideration all the submissions and evidence, I find that the appeal under the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2007 succeeds and is allowed and award the complainant a redundancy lump sum based on the following:
Date of Commencement: 28/01/2019 Date of Termination: 31/12/2023 Gross Weekly Pay: €917.11
This award is subject to the complainant having been in employment which is insurable for all purposes under the Social Welfare Consolidation Acts. |
Decision:
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 that the appeal under the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2007 succeeds and is allowed and award the complainant a redundancy lump sum based on the following:
Date of Commencement: 28/01/2019 Date of Termination: 31/12/2023 Gross Weekly Pay: €917.11
This award is subject to the complainant having been in employment which is insurable for all purposes under the Social Welfare Consolidation Acts. |
Dated: 14th of August 2024
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Louise Boyle
Key Words:
Redundancy payment, maternity, |