Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Adam  Lancaster

The French Table The French Table Ltd

Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

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Representatives

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 12 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973

CA-00057826-001

20/07/2023

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994

CA-00057826-002

20/07/2023

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994

CA-00057826-003

20/07/2023

The Complainant commenced his employment as a Sales Assistant with the Respondent on 1 April 2023 and was paid €180 per week.

He stated both that his core terms of employment were not communicated to him in writing and that he did not also receive a written statement of his general terms and conditions of employment within the periods stipulated in the Act. He also alleged that he did not receive his minimum notice entitlements when his employment was terminated on 17 July 2023.

The Complainant stated that he did not receive either a written statement of his core terms of employment within 5 days of the start of his employment nor a statement in writing of his general terms of employment within one month of commencing work.

He also stated that he did not receive his minimum notice entitlements when he was dismissed from his employment.

The Respondent accepted that the Complainant did not receive either a written statement of his core terms of employment within 5 days of the start of his employment nor a statement in writing of his general terms of employment within one month of commencing work.

The Respondent also accepted that he did not receive his minimum notice entitlements when he was dismissed from his employment.

CA-00057826-001:

Section 4 of the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973, states: 

(1)    An employer shall, in order to terminate the contract of employment of an employee who has been in his continuous service for a period of thirteen weeks or more, give to that employee a minimum period of notice calculated in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section. 

(2)    The minimum notice to be given by an employer to terminate the contract of employment of his employee shall be –

(a) if the employee has been in the continuous service of his employer for less than two years, one week, 

(b) if the employee has been in the continuous service of his employer for two years or more but less than five years, two weeks 

c) if the employee has been in the continuous service of his employer for five years or more, but less than ten years, four weeks, 

(d) if the employee has been in the continuous service of his employer for ten years or more, but less than fifteen years, six weeks, 

The Complainant stated and that Respondent accepted that he did not receive his minimum notice entitlements of one week when he was dismissed from his employment.

Accordingly, this complaint is well founded.

CA-00057826-002 and CA-00057826-003:

The Law

The Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994, as amended, (the “TE(I)A”) sets out the basic terms of employment which an employer must provide to an employee in written form. Section 3(1A) of the TE(I)A obligates an employer to provide employees with certain essential information, or core terms, in writing within five days of commencing employment. Section 3(1) of the TE(I)A also obligates an employer to provide employees with a statement in writing concerning other aspects of an employee’s terms and conditions of employment within two months of commencing employment. This provision was recently amended to indicate one month.

Findings:

The Complainant stated, and the Respondent accepted, that he did not receive either a written statement of his core terms of employment within 5 days of the start of his employment nor a statement in writing of his general terms of employment within one month of commencing work.

I therefore find that these complaints are well founded and set out separate awards in respect of each complaint below.

CA-00057826-001:

I find that this complaint is well founded for the reasons set out above and I make an award of €180, namely one week’s pay, in respect of this complaint.

CA-00057826-002:

I find that this complaint is well founded for the reasons set out above.

In deciding on an award of compensation, I note that the Respondent is a relatively new, small enterprise and that there were no adverse implications for the Complainant by the failure to provide him with a statement of his general terms and conditions of employment as required by the Act. Bearing these two factors in mind, I make an award of €100 in respect of this complaint.

CA-00057826-003:

I find that this complaint is well founded for the reasons set out above.

In deciding on an award of compensation, I note that the Respondent is a relatively new, small enterprise and that there were no adverse implications for the Complainant by the failure to provide him with a statement of his core terms of employment as required by the Act. Bearing these two factors in mind, I make an award of €100 in respect of this complaint.