Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Paul  Elmes

Tallaght University Hospital

Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

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Representatives

Adrian Norton IBEC

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 77 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998

CA-00051709-001

14/07/2022

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991

CA-00051709-003

14/07/2022

The Complainant began his employment on 31 July 1998 and worked with the Respondent until he retired on 17 April 2019. He stated that he did not receive an annual leave premium in respect of the regular rostered overtime that he worked in the evenings and on Saturday mornings.

The Complainant began his employment on 31 July 1998 and worked with the Respondent until he retired on 17 April 2019. He stated that he did not receive an annual leave premium payment in respect of the regular rostered overtime that he worked in the evenings and on Saturday mornings. He learned after he retired that former colleagues of his, who also worked regular rostered overtime, received compensation from the Respondent in respect of this overtime which he did not receive.

The Respondent did not make any submissions in relation to the complaints and stated that they were out of time because the Complainant had retired in 2019, more than three years before the complaints were referred to the WRC.

CA-00051709-003:

Section 41(6) and (8) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 govern the time frame for submitting claims for consideration by the Workplace Relations Commission.  These sections state as follows:

(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.

I note firstly that the Complainant’s employment with the Respondent ended on 17 April 2019 and this complaint was not presented within the period of either 6 months or 12 months (extendable due to reasonable cause as outlined above) after he left the Respondent’s employment.

Although I accept that the Complainant did not become aware until February 2022 that his former colleagues were paid compensation that he did not receive, there can only have been a contravention of the legislation in the time that the Complainant was employed by the Respondent. As the Complainant retired on 17 April 2019 and the complaint was referred to the WRC on 13 July 2022 however, it is out of time and cannot be considered under the legislation.

CA-00051709-001: This complaint was withdrawn.

CA-00051709-003: I do not have jurisdiction to hear this complaint for the reasons set out above.