ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00050936

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Parties	Laura Kilduff	Claudine King

Representatives

Martin Wallace

Complaint(s):

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Regulation 15 of the European Communities (Organisation of Working Time) (Mobile Staff in Civil Aviation) Regulations 2006 - S.I. No. 507 of 2006	CA-00060027-001	15/11/2023
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994	CA-00060027-002	15/11/2023
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994	CA-00060027-003	15/11/2023
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994	CA-00060027-005	15/11/2023
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977	CA-00060027-006	15/11/2023
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 30 and 31 of the Maternity Protection Act 1994	CA-00060027-008	15/11/2023
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991	CA-00060027-013	15/11/2023
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991	CA-00060027-014	15/11/2023
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991	CA-00060027-015	15/11/2023
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997	CA-00060027-016	15/11/2023
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997	CA-00060027-017	15/11/2023
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997	CA-00060027-018	15/11/2023
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997	CA-00060027-019	15/11/2023

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 25/07/2024

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: David Murphy

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 - 2015following 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.

When the hearing opened the I reviewed the complaints before me. The Complainant accepted that CA-00060027-001 had been filed by mistake and withdrew it.

The Complainant indicated that she did not want to pursue CA-00060027-006, under the Unfair Dismissals Act but did not withdraw the complaint. As this was a claim for constructive dismissal will issue a decision noting that it is not well founded.

I reviewed the complaint CA-00060027-008 with the Complainant who confirmed that it related to matters concerning her maternity leave in June 2021. She accepted that these matters where out of time.

Background:

The Complainant worked for the Respondent for three years. In September 2023 differences arose, and the Complainant resigned.

The Complainant has raised a series of complaints mostly related to her pay and entitlements on cessation.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The Complainant gave evidence under affirmation.

She was really disappointed in how she was treated at the end of her employment. She had resigned by text and the owner had accepted this with “immediate affect.” She hadn’t planned on this and was planning to work the next three days

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The Respondent attended the hearing represented by Martin Wallace a legal executive.

Mr Wallace made detailed written and oral submissions on behalf of the Respondent. They submit that they paid the Complainant what she was owed and was entirely entitled to accept her resignation.

Findings and Conclusions:

Terms of Employment Information Act

The Complainant has submitted the following complaints under the Terms of Employment Information Act.

CA-00060027-002- I did not receive a statement in writing of my terms of employment

CA-00060027-003 – I was notified in writing of a change to my terms of employment

CA-00060027-005 - I did not receive a statement of my core terms in writing under the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994

Both parties accept that the Complainant did not receive a statement of particulars at either 5 days post commencement or 30 days post commencement, as required by the act.

The Complainant has not identified which specific change to her terms and conditions was not notified to her in writing.

Section 7 d) of the act sets out my jurisdiction for redress: in relation to a complaint of a contravention under change section 3, 4, 5, 6, 6D, 6E, 6F, or 6G, and without prejudice to any order made under paragraph (e) order the employer to pay to the employee compensation of such amount (if any) as the adjudication officer considers just and equitable having regard to all of the circumstances, but not exceeding 4 weeks’ remuneration in respect of the employee’s employment calculated in accordance with regulations under section 17 of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977.

The Complainant’s weekly wage appears to have been €326.25. That being 22.5 hours at €14.50 per hour. The maximum award is therefore €1305.

It was not acceptable for the Complainant was not issued with a statement of particulars setting out her terms and conditions of employment and that this situation persisted for such a long period of time. In the circumstances an award of €1305 is appropriate. While there could be technically multiple breaches of the act encompassed by complaints 002 and 005 I do not think that it would be proportionate to make an award under both complaints.

Payment of Wages Act

The Complainant has submitted the following complaints under the Payment of Wages Act.

CA-00060027-013 alleging a deduction of wages on the 26th of September for hours owed which the Complainant disputes.

CA-00060027-014 alleging that the Respondent had not paid her or paid her less than what was owed to her. The Complainant provided two figures for the amount owing to her under this heading €493 in wages and €1087.50 overall.

CA-00060027-015 alleging she did not receive notice for termination.

The Respondent had initially suggested they were going to make a deduction for the Complainant’s final payslip to take into account alleged overpayments for days not fully worked. Ultimately they did not do so. On review of the documentation provided by the Respondent I find that the Complainant was paid for the hours she worked up until the date of her resignation.

There is a separate issue concerning notice. On the 19th of September the Complainant texted the Respondent’s owner to let her know that her child’s creche was going out on strike the following week. Specifically, the 25th 26th and 27th. They discussed the possibility of her taking annual leave or working other days, neither of which suited the Complainant.

The next day on the 20th of September 2023 she emailed the Respondent:

From effect of today i am to inform you i handing in my notice. I would like to thank you for my time within employment.

On Fri 22 September 2023 they responded:

Thank you for your email. I accept your notice with immediate effect.

I think the Respondent understood the Complainant’s resignation to take effect immediately. The Complainant’s evidence was that she had understood that her notice ran from that day and that she would in fact work the following week. Her evidence was that she would have had to figure out childcare and would have gone to work if the Respondent hadn’t taken this position.

I don’t think this was sufficiently clear to the Respondent at the time and they reasonably understood the Complainant to have resigned with immediate effect and that she had not been available to work that week in any event.

Organisation of Working Time Act

The Complainant submitted the following complaints under the Organisation of Working Time Act:

CA-00060027-016 I did not receive my paid holiday/annual leave entitlement

CA-00060027-017 I have not received my public holiday entitlements

CA-00060027-018 I was not compensated for the loss of my annual leave entitlement on leaving

CA-00060027-019 I was not compensated for the loss of my Public Holiday entitlement on leaving.

The Complainant was paid annual leave for on the 19th 20th and 21st of September 2023. The Complainant did not request these days to be paid as annual leave but also was unable to work those days. As her resignation followed directly after these days she would have been paid for them anyway on cessation rather than slightly earlier. As such there is a breach but it is entirely technical and the Complainant suffered no loss.

The Respondent has provided a detailed breakdown of their payment to the Complainant on cessation, and I am satisfied that this is what she was owed. The Respondent had initially proposed making deductions to take into account alleged overpayments for days not fully worked but ultimately did not.

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 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 – 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the unfair dismissal claim consisting of a grant of redress in accordance with section 7 of the 1977 Act.

CA-00060027-001

This complaint was withdrawn.

CA-00060027-002

The complaint is well founded I direct the Respondent to pay the Complainant €1305.

CA-00060027-003

The complaint is not well founded.

CA-00060027-005

The complaint is well founded. I do not direct any payment in recognition of the award made in CA-00060027-002.

CA-00060027-006