Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Anthony Moran

George Leetch Construction Ltd.

Representatives

Self-represented

 No appearance

Act

Complaint Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967

CA-00057700-001

14/07/2023

The Complainant was employed by the Respondent from 20th May, 2013, until 28th December, 2022 as a plasterer and labourer. The Complainant alleges that he was made redundant by the Respondent but has received no redundancy payment.

The Respondent did not attend the hearing.

The Complainant represented himself at the hearing.

He outlined that the owner of the company/his boss mentioned verbally prior to Christmas 2022 his intention to close the business – that there were one or two more things to complete, then he would be closing it. He said that they broke for Christmas, and about three (3) weeks into January 2023, he contacted his boss to ask whether the company was resuming work or not. It was not. The last wages the Complainant received from the Respondent company related to work he did in December 2022.

The Complainant stated that he had worked for the company from 20/05/2013 – 28/12/2022.

He said that he had not been provided with the redundancy payment to which he was entitled and that he was told a series of things in relation to the Respondent company, its accountant and the RP77 form, which transpired not to be true.

The Adjudication Officer enquired at the hearing as to whether there had been any consultation process or any offers of alternative work made by the Respondent company. The Complainant said that neither had occurred.

The Complainant said that, by the end of his period of employment, he was earning approximately €750 per week, but that he had not been earning that amount throughout his employment. He explained that some weeks, he was working full-time and others he was not. He outlined that in addition to doing regular building work, his work sometimes involved roofing which could be weather-dependent. He outlined that sometimes he was “doing the x’s and o’s for social welfare”, i.e. that he was not working a full week some weeks.

The Complainant requested additional information from the Complainant, to be submitted within a prescribed time-frame. Specifically, she sought anything that tended to show what he earned and to what extent he was working full-time or part-time, e.g. a Revenue statement, a Social Welfare Statement, payslips etc. The Complainant submitted, a payslip from October 2022 and an ‘Employment Detail Summary’ for 2022.

No appearance was entered by or on behalf of the Respondent.

I am satisfied that the Respondent was on notice of the hearing.

I find for the Complainant.

I find that the complaint is well-founded.

s. 7(2)a of the Redundancy Payments Acts lists the following situation as a ground for redundancy:

“…the fact that his employer has ceased, or intends to cease, to carry on the business for the purposes of which the employee was employed by him, or has ceased or intends to cease, to carry on that business in the places where the employee was so employed.”

I find for the Complainant. I find that this complaint is well founded.

I allow the Complainant’s appeal under Clause 7.2 (a) and I award him redundancy on the following basis.  

Section 4.(1) of the Act states “Subject to this section and to section 47 this Act shall apply to employees employed in employment which is insurable for all benefits under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1966 and to employees who were so employed in such employment in the period of two years ending on the date of termination of employment.”

Therefore, subject to the Complainant being in employment which was insurable for this purpose under the Social Welfare Acts, and subject to being confirmed by the appropriate Government Agency, the Complainant is entitled to a redundancy payment of two weeks per year (or part thereof) plus a week on the following basis:

Date of Commencement: 20/05/2013

Date of Reckonable Service for Redundancy Payment Ceasing on: 28/12/2022

Gross Weekly Wage: It is difficult to determine accurately the exact applicable figure. The employment statement submitted by the Complainant, at the request of the Adjudication Officer for 2022, indicated that the Complainant’s gross earnings from the Respondent company for that twelve (12) month period was €19,088.39. That would indicate the gross weekly figure to be €19,088.39/52 = €367.08

The Complainant’s period of “reckonable service” is defined by Schedule 3 of the Act and does not include any period of absence from work due to lay off by the employer.

Redundancy Payment;