ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00043771
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Mary Ward | The Board of Management of St. Colmcille's Community School |
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | {text} | {text} |
Representatives | David Kearney, HR Brief Ltd | Lorcan Maule, Mason Hayes and Curran |
Complaints:
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-00050986-001 | 03/06/2022 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 14 of the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act, 2003 | CA-00050986-002 | 03/06/2022 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Regulation 10 of the European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 131 of 2003) | CA-00050986-003 | 03/06/2022 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Regulation 10 of the European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 131 of 2003) | CA-00050986-004 | 03/06/2022 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Regulation 10 of the European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 131 of 2003) | CA-00050986-005 | 03/06/2022 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 | CA-00050986-007 | 03/06/2022 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 14 of the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act, 2003 | CA-00050986-008 | 03/06/2022 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 04/05/2023
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Maria Kelly
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and/or Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2014following the referral of the complaints to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaints and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaints.
On consent I amended the name of respondent from St. Colmcille’s Community School Adult Education to The Board of Management of St. Colmcille’s Community School.
The complaints contained in ADJ-00043770 and ADJ-00043771 are interlinked and arise for the same circumstances. The two files were listed for hearing together.
The original complaint form included complaints submitted under Regulation 10 of the European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 131 of 2003). The respondent in its written submission stated that there was and is only one employer, that is the Board of Management of St. Colmcille’s Community School. The complainant accepted that in those circumstances no issue arose in connection with a transfer of an undertaking. Consequently, the complainant withdrew complaints CA-00050986-006 in file ADJ-00043770 and CA-00050986-003, CA-00050986-004, CA00050986-005 in file ADJ-00043771.
The complaints submitted under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act, 2003 were also withdrawn as the respondent acknowledged in its written submission that the complainant had been in employment for sixteen years and there was no fixed-term contract in being since 2011. These are complaints CA-00050986-002 and CA-00050986-008.
The only complaints to be adjudicated on are CA-00050986-001 (now CA-00054756-001 in file ADJ-00043770) submitted under the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 and CA-00050986-007 (now CA-00054756-003 in file ADJ-00043770) submitted under the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994. These two complaints and the decisions are contained in file ADJ-00043770.
The complainant and the Principal of the School gave evidence on oath.
Background:
The complainant commenced employment with the respondent in September 2007. She is the Administrator of the Adult Education Programme. She currently works 25 hours per week at the rate of €21.28 gross per hour. The complainant was laid off between April 2020 and September 2021 due to the restrictions in place arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. During that period, she received the Pandemic Unemployment Payment. On returning to work in September 2021 the complaint claims a significant part of her job had been taken away. She requested redundancy in October 2021 but was refused. The complainant claims she is entitled to a redundancy payment as her job had been disbanded and she is not being given an alternative commensurate position. The complainant also claims she was never issued with a statement in writing containing the particulars of the terms of her employment.
The respondent is a publicly funded national secondary school. The respondent disputes the complaints in full. It is submitted that Section 7 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 applies to a situation where there has been a dismissal by reason of redundancy. The complainant continues to carry out the duties she carried out prior to September 2021 except for processing payroll and invoice rentals.
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Summary of Complainant’s Case:
CA-00050986-001 Complaint submitted pursuant to Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967. This complaint is a duplicate of complaint CA-00054756-001 in ADJ-00043770. The summary of the complaint and the adjudication decision are contained in file ADJ-00043770. CA-00050986-007 Complainant submitted pursuant to Section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 This complaint is a duplicate of complaint CA-00054756-003 in ADJ-00043770. The summary of the complaint and the adjudication decision are contained in file ADJ-00043770.
CA-00050986-002 Complaint submitted pursuant to Section 14 of the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act, 2003 CA-00050986-003 Complaint submitted pursuant to Regulation 10 of the European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 131 of 2003) CA-00050986-004 Complaint submitted pursuant to Regulation 10 of the European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 131 of 2003) CA-00050986-005 Complaint submitted pursuant to Regulation 10 of the European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 131 of 2003) CA-00050986-008 Complaint submitted pursuant to Section 14 of the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act, 2003 The complaints CA-00050986-002, 003, 004, 005 and 008 were withdrawn by the complainant at the hearing.
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Summary of Respondent’s Case:
CA-00050986-001 Complaint submitted pursuant to Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967. This complaint is a duplicate of complaint CA-00054756-001 in file ADJ-00043770. The summary of the complaint and the adjudication decision are contained in file ADJ-00043770. Complainant submitted pursuant to Section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 This complaint is a duplicate of complaint CA-00054756-003 in file ADJ-00043770. The summary of the complaint and the adjudication decision are contained in file ADJ-00043770. |
Findings and Conclusions:
CA-00050986-001 Complaint submitted pursuant to Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967. This complaint is a duplicate of complaint CA-00054756-001 in file ADJ-00043770. The summary of the complaint and the adjudication decision are contained in file ADJ-00043770. CA-00050986-007 Complainant submitted pursuant to Section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 This complaint is a duplicate of complaint CA-00054756-003 in file ADJ-00043770. The summary of the complaint and the adjudication decision are contained in file ADJ-00043770.
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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.
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.
CA-00050986-001 Complaint submitted pursuant to Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967. This complaint is a duplicate of complaint CA-00054756-001 in ADJ-00043770. The summary of the complaint and the adjudication decision are contained in file ADJ-00043770. CA-00050986-007 Complainant submitted pursuant to Section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 This complaint is a duplicate of complaint CA-00054756-003 in ADJ-00043770. The summary of the complaint and the adjudication decision are contained in file ADJ-00043770.
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Dated: 08th of March 2024
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Maria Kelly
Key Words:
Redundancy Terms of Employment Statement |