ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00045846

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Parties	Ruimar Nascimento Dias Junior	AMT Coffee Limited

Complaint:

Act	Complaint Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997	CA-00056637-001	14/05/2023

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 27/02/2024

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Pat Brady

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 following 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.

Background:

The complainant had been employed by the respondent from December 3rd, 2021, to November 11th, 2022, when he was laid off without any notice. He complains that he was not given his leave entitlement.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The complainant gave evidence on affirmation.

The complainant confirmed that he had been employed by the respondent from December 3rd, 2021, to November 11th, 2022, when he was laid off without any notice. The employees were told of this in an online meeting. They were not allowed to engage during this or ask any questions

The company ceased trading and it then went into administration.

The only time off he had during the year was unpaid, and despite repeated attempts to get payment for his annual leave, he got no response or payment from the company.

He sent several emails regarding his outstanding entitlement, but got no reply

He says that he got no paid annual leave in the year 2022 and worked on seven public holidays.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The respondent did not attend the hearing.

Findings and Conclusions:

The respondent is part of a large chain of coffee shops which has outlets in the UK and in Ireland.

It is insolvent and was placed in administration in October 2023. This gives rise to other complications some of which may be relevant to the complainant seeking implementation of the decision below.

One of the Administrators, who is based in Glasgow wrote to the WRC on a number of occasions setting out the position, but confirming on January 16th, 2024, that he would not attend the hearing

Accordingly, I proceeded to hear the complaint in the absence of an appearance by the respondent accept the complainant’s evidence in this case and find that he is due payments in respect of annual leave as set out below.

There was some confusion about his actual rate of pay.

While it was stated on the complaint form to be €2008.66 per month, he submitted a copy of his pay slip showing that his rate of pay was €1830.52 for October 2022 , and it is this on which I base my decision. This gives a daily rate of €91.53.

Therefore the complainant is due payment in respect of twenty days annual leave, and a further seven days in respect of his public holidays: a total of twenty-seven days giving an entitlement of €2471.19.

Decision:

Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.

I uphold complaint CA-56637001 and award the complainant €2471.19.

Dated: 13/03/2024

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Pat Brady

Key Words:

Annual Leave, Public Holidays