LCR22957

PARTIES:

DIVISION:

SUBJECT:

Appeal of Adjudication Officer Decision No's: ADJ-0047451 (CA-00058503)

BACKGROUND:

The Worker appealed the Adjudication Officer’s Recommendation to the Labour Court on 12 October 2023 in accordance with Section 13(9) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969. On 1 September 2023 the Adjudication Officer issued the following Recommendation:

“I recommend that the Employer pay compensation of €1500.”

A Labour Court Hearing took place on 4 April 2024.

RECOMMENDATION:

This matter comes before the Court as an appeal of a recommendation of an Adjudication Officer given under the Industrial Relations Act, 1969. The worker and a range of individuals apparently representing the employer were present in the Court room at the commencement of proceedings on the day.

Prior to the commencement of proceedings, the group of people apparently attending to represent the employer became aware that the WRC had issued a ‘correcting order’ amending the name of the employer as carried on the original recommendation. The group of people stated that they had no knowledge of the correcting order, that it had been sought by the worker, considered by the adjudication officer or made by the Adjudication Officer.

A copy of the correcting order was provided to the group of people. The representative of the group of people then stated that they were not representative of the legal entity identified in the corrected recommendation of the Adjudication Officer. They withdrew from the hearing and withdrew any written submission which had earlier been made to the Court.

The Court therefore heard from the worker but did not hear from an employer in the matter.

The worker submitted that her employer had undertaken to pay mileage expenses to her during her employment at a rate equivalent to the rate of mileage expenses paid to civil servants in employment of the state. She submitted that she had driven over 7,000 kilometre in the course of her work with her employer and had not received payment of mileage expenses at the rate undertaken originally to her. She estimated that she was at also of €1,600 approximately as a result of the failure to make the agreed expense payments to her.

The worker provided the Court with calculations and details to support her claim. Those calculations and submissions were, for the reason set out above, uncontested.

In all of the circumstances, the Court decides that employer should make a payment of €2,000 to the worker to include payment of unpaid agreed mileage expenses and compensation for inconvenience and distress suffered.

The Court so decides.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Kevin Foley
SOC	______________________
09 May 2024	Chairman

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Sinéad O'Connor, Court Secretary.