ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00048921

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Parties	Iga Galaszewska	Betelnut Bray Cafe

	Complainant	Respondent
Anonymised Parties

Representatives

In person (remotely)

Did not attend

Complaint(s):

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991	CA-00060102-001	18/11/2023
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997	CA-00060102-002	18/11/2023
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967	CA-00060102-003	18/11/2023

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 05/03/2024

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Jim Dolan

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and/or Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2014 following the referral of the complaint(s) to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint(s) and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint(s).

Background:

The Complainant was employed by the Respondent from 4th July 2020 until 30th May 2023.

This complaint was received by the Workplace Relations Commission on 18th November 2023.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The Complainant started working at the Betelnut Cafe on the 3rd of July 2020 and finished on the 16th of May 2023.

The Complainant states that the cafe doors were shut on this day with no prior notice.

After this, the Complainant received an email stating how much holiday pay she was owed and that it would not be paid. The Complainant received a payslip showing that she was paid the correct amount of “holiday pay/other” on 21/05/23, but again, she did not receive this money.

The Complainant has made these complaints against The Betelnut Cafe as a result of the following:

· Not having received any notice of the cafe closing down.

· Not being paid holiday pay.

· Not receiving redundancy.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The Respondent did not attend the scheduled hearing of the complaint but had sent a message to the Workplace Relations Commission prior to the hearing. Part of this message reads as follows:

Unfortunately, there is absolutely no point in me attending this hearing as the company has been closed for quite some time now. Unfortunately, I did already have to explain to Iga why I couldn’t pay any further monies. Upon closing the business which we were forced to do by our landlord because of the considerable debt we were in regarding rent, utilities, and rates we also have pretty sizeable debt with suppliers and revenue. The only reason I am highlighting any of this is to reiterate that I will not be attending the hearing or engaging with the WRC in relation to this. Whatever the consequences are for that I will just have to deal with when the time comes. I do not have the time, money or motivation to hire a solicitor and go fight about this. I do feel bad that I didn’t have money to pay redundancy when we closed but I am also reminding myself and thankfully have been reminded by so many past employees that over the 20 years we were employing so many people we were way fairer, more generous, and so supportive to them all, way more than most employers are in our industry. I didn’t choose to close the business and I didn’t walk away with any money whatsoever, only massive debt. It is not hard to find a job in our industry especially at Iga’s age and all the staff had plenty of notice that we were closing.

Findings and Conclusions:

In considering this complaint the first consideration has to be the date of dismissal. The Complainant has stated that when she arrived for work on 16th May 2023 the café doors were shut and the café has not re-opened since. The Complainant received no notice from the Respondent to the effect that her employment was ending. Under s.1 of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, the date of dismissal is defined as the date on which notice of termination where the notice is, or would have been, in accordance with the contract of employment or with the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act 1973, whichever is the greater. Under this enactment the Complainant was entitled to two weeks’ notice, this makes the date of termination 30th May 2023.

CA – 00060102 – 001. Complaint submitted under s.6 Payment of Wages Act, 1991.

The complainant did not receive payment in lieu of her statutory notice. I now order the Respondent to pay the complainant two weeks pay in lieu of her notice period. I believe this equates to €407.70 (€203.85 x 2). This payment should be made to the Complainant within 42 days from the date of this decision.

CA – 00060102 – 002. Complaint submitted under s.27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997.

The complainant did not receive her outstanding holiday entitlement. I believe this amounts to €933.48. I now order the Respondent to pay the complainant this amount as outstanding holiday pay within 42 days from the date of this decision.

CA – 00060102 – 003. Complaint submitted under s.39 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967.

The Complainant is entitled to a redundancy payment based on the following:

Start Date – 4th July 2020

End Date – 30th May 2023

Weekly hours worked – varies.

Hourly rate of pay - €12.00

Employer Number – 9538729J

I now order the Respondent to make this payment to the Complainant within 42 days from the date of this decision.

Decision:

Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint(s) 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.