ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00051200
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Oleksandra Dudurych | Department of Education |
Representatives | Vadim Karpenko, Legal Bridge Advisors | Represented by Department Staff |
Complaints:
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-00062713-001 | 10/04/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 | CA-00062713-002 | 10/04/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 14 of the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act, 2003 | CA-00062713-003 | 10/04/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 | CA-00062713-004 | 10/04/2024 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 | CA-00062713-005 | 10/04/2024 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 22/11/2024
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015, these complaints were assigned to me by the Director General. I conducted a hearing on November 22nd 2024, at which I made enquiries and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard and to present evidence relevant to the complaints. The complainant, Ms Oleksandra Dudurych, was represented by Mr Vadim Karpenko of Legal Bridge Advisors. The Department of Education was represented by Mr Ray Murphy from the Payroll Unit and Ms Áine Garvan of the External Staff Relations Unit. Ms Dudurych’s complaints relate to her employment in Our Lady of Good Counsel Infant National School and the Principal, Ms Caoimhe Warren, also attended the hearing. The Board of Management of Our Lady of Good Counsel School was represented by Ms Rosemary Mallon BL, instructed by Mr Lorcan Maule of Mason, Hayes and Curran Solicitors. Mr Maule was assisted by Ms Aoibheann Durkin.
While the parties are named in this decision, for the remainder of this document, I will refer to Ms Dudurych as “the complainant” and to the Department of Education as “the respondent.”
Summary of the Complaints:
The complainant is registered with the Teaching Council to teach in a secondary school. The documents she submitted for the hearing show that, on May 26th 2023, she applied for a position as a teacher in Our Lady of Good Counsel Infant Primary School in Mourne Road in Drimnagh, Dublin 12. On August 29th 2023, she commenced working on a one-year fixed-term contract as a teacher in an early intervention class. In preparation for the hearing, the complainant submitted a copy of a Primary Teachers Appointment Form 2023/2024. This shows that the purpose of the fixed-term contract was to fill in for a teacher on a career break. The form shows that the commencement date of the contract was August 31st 2023 and the end date was August 31st 2024. On page 2 of the form, the complainant inserted her Teaching Council Registration number and ticked the box to indicate that she was registered “for the purpose of Primary teaching, in accordance with circulars 31/2011, 25/2013 & 52/2013.” In her evidence at the hearing, the principal, Ms Warren said that she received a text message from the complainant on December 5th 2023 telling her that she hadn’t been paid any wages since the end of October. Ms Warren said that the teachers’ payroll is managed by the Department of Education and she advised the complainant to contact the Department. The following day, Ms Warren said that she was contacted by an employee in the Department, who informed her that the complainant was not qualified to teach in a primary school and that she should not have been offered a fixed-term contract. Ms Warren said that she was told that she would have to re-advertise the job and continue to look for a qualified person to fill the vacancy. In the meantime, Ms Warren said that she was advised that she could employ the complainant on a term-to-term basis. The complainant said that on December 5th 2023, she was informed that she was “fired” the previous October 27th. The documents she submitted show that a second Primary Teachers Appointment Form 2023/2024 was submitted to the Department for the period from November 6th until December 22nd 2023. In her evidence, Ms Warren said that she was aware that the complainant was returning home to Ukraine for Christmas and that she had no money. She said that she offered the complainant a loan from the school. The complainant repaid the loan in January. A third Primary Teachers Appointment Form 2023/2024 was completed for the complainant for the period from December 23rd 2023 until April 5th 2024. The complainant returned to work on January 8th 2024 and informed the principal that she had another job and that she was leaving. On the same day, the complainant submitted a letter of resignation to the chairperson of the board of management of Our Lady of Good Counsel Infant Primary School. In her evidence, the complainant said that she got a job in a secondary school. At the hearing, she provided a copy of her payslip dated January 4th 2024 which shows that she received €5,063.20 in arrears of wages. |
Findings and Conclusions:
CA-00062713-001: Complaint under the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 The complainant claims that she did not receive a statement of her terms and conditions of employment. As the Department of Education was not the complainant’s employer, she has submitted this complaint against the wrong respondent. The complainant has properly submitted this complaint against the Board of Management of Our Lady of Good Counsel Infant Primary School under complaint ADJ-00052598 and a decision has been issued under that reference number. CA-00062713-002: Complaint under the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 The complainant claims that she was not informed of a change to the terms and conditions of her employment. As the Department of Education was not the complainant’s employer, like the complaint above, she has submitted this complaint against the wrong respondent. The complainant has properly submitted this complaint against the Board of Management of Our Lady of Good Counsel Infant Primary School under complaint ADJ-00052598 and a decision has been issued under that reference number. CA-00062713-003: Complaint under Protection of Employees (Fixed-term Work) Act 2003 The complainant claims that her contract of employment was terminated “a few times” without explanation. The Department of Education is not the correct respondent with regard to this complaint and, like the complaints above under reference numbers CA-00062713-001 and -002, I have adjudicated on this complaint under complaint number ADJ-00052598. CA-00062713-004: Complaint under the Payment of Wages Act 1991 The complainant claims that she wasn’t paid for the midterm break at the end of October 2023. At the hearing, Mr Ray Murphy from the payroll unit of the Department of Education said that the complainant received wages from August 31st 2023 until January 8th 2024, inclusive of holidays. The complainant provided a copy of her payslip dated January 4th 2024 at the hearing which shows that she received €5,063.20 in arrears in that payslip. Based on the respondent’s evidence, I am satisfied that the complainant received her wages for the holidays at the midterm break in October 2023. CA-00062713-005: Complaint under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 The complainant claims that she wasn’t paid for the summer holidays in 2024. The complainant left her job with Our Lady of Good Counsel Infant Primary School on January 8th 2024 and, for this reason, she has no entitlement to holidays in the summer of 2024. |
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.
For the reasons I have set out above, I decided that these complaints are not well founded. |
Dated: 05th December 2024.
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Key Words:
Wages, holiday pay |