ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00046364

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Parties	Linda Flanagan	Dr Declan Scanlon Scanlon's Medical Centre Primary Care

	Complainant	Respondent
Parties	Linda Flanagan	Dr Declan Scanlon

Representatives

Christine Guilfoyle South Leinster Citizens Information Service

No Show

Complaint(s):

Act	Complaint Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967	CA-00057221-001	13/06/2023
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 12 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973	CA-00057221-002	13/06/2023
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994	CA-00057221-003	27/09/2023
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997	CA-00057221-004	27/09/2023

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 17/09/2024

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Brian Dalton

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and 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 commenced her employment as a receptionist at a doctor’s practice on the 20th of December 2004.

The Complainant’s employment ended abruptly on the 31st of October 2022 when the practice closed without notice.

The Complaint was lodged with the Commission on the 13th of June 2023. On this date two complaints were made:

· CA-00057221-01 Redundancy

· CA-00057221-02 Minimum Notice

The Respondent has failed to engage with Commission.

Notice of the hearing has been service at the medical practice and at a private residence.

The Complainant was paid €480 gross monthly and €120 gross weekly.

On the 27th of September 2023 an amended Complaint Form was received adding two other complaints:

· CA-00057221-003 I did not receive a statement in writing on my terms of employment

· CA-00057221-04 I did not receive my paid holiday/annual leave entitlement.

An RP 9 was sent to the business address on the 2nd of February 2023 applying for statutory redundancy and RP 77 was sent to the prior business address on the 11th January 2024.

The Complainant based on their service which began on the 20th of December 2004 and ceased on the 31st of October 2022 claims for 8 weeks’ notice,

The Complainant based on her employment commencing on the 20th of December 2004 and ending on 31st of October 2022 and equates to 17.87 years’ service x 2 + 1 week (bonus) = €4,411.20

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The business practice closed abruptly and without notice. The Complainant has long service and is entitled to statutory redundancy and minimum notice. The relevant redundancy statutory redundancy forms have been served on the Respondent.

In addition, 2 other claims are being made relating to holidays and for breach of the Information Act by not providing a written statement of terms and conditions.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The Respondent failed to attend.

Findings and Conclusions:

I am satisfied that notice of this hearing was properly served on the Respondent and he was notified of the time and date of the remote hearing. The Respondent has ignored the notices served on him.

CA-00057221-01 Redundancy:

Section 12 of the Redundancy Payment Act 1967 as amended states:

Right to redundancy payment by reason of lay-off or short-time.

12. — (1) An employee shall not be entitled to redundancy payment by reason of having been laid off or kept on short-time unless —

(a) he has been laid off or kept on short time for four or more consecutive weeks or, within a period of thirteen weeks, for a series of six or more weeks of which not more than three were consecutive, and

(b) after the expiry of the relevant period of lay-off or short-time mentioned in paragraph (a) and not later than four weeks after the cessation of the lay-off or short-time, he gives to his employer notice (in this Part referred to as a notice of intention to claim) in writing of his intention to claim redundancy payment in respect of lay-off or short-time.

(2) Where, after the expiry of the relevant period of lay-off or short-time mentioned in subsection (1) ( a ) and not later than four weeks after the cessation of the lay-off or short time, an employee to whom that subsection applies, in lieu of giving to his employer a notice of intention to claim, terminates his contract of employment either by giving him the notice thereby required or, if none is so required, by giving him not less than one week ’ s notice in writing of intention to terminate the contract, the notice so given shall, for the purposes of this Part and of Schedule 2, be deemed to be a notice of intention to claim given in writing to the employer by the employee on the date on which the notice is actually given.

The employee has met the conditions pursuant to section 12 and has notified the employer of her intention to claim redundancy subject to section 12(2) and the requirement to provide 1 weeks’ notice to the employer.

I am satisfied that the complainant is entitled to a redundancy pursuant to the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 as amended based on the following facts:

· Employment start date 20th of December 2004

· Employment ends and business closes date 31st October 2022.

· Contractual termination date based on right to 8 weeks’ notice 23rd December 2022.

· Gross Weekly Wage €120.

The business ceased trading on the 31st of October 2022. The contractual termination date occurred 8 weeks after the 31st of October 2022 allowing for the fact that notice must be included when calculating the contractual termination date. This means that the contractual end date is the 23rd of December 2022.

CA-00057221-02 Minimum Notice:

I am satisfied that the business ceased trading on the 31st of October 2022. In those circumstances the Complainant is entitled to notice.

Minimum period of notice.

4.—(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,

(e) if the employee has been in the continuous service of his employer for fifteen years or more, eight weeks.

I determine the notice to be paid as follows: 8 weeks = 8 x €120=€960 gross

CA-00057221-003 I did not receive a statement in writing on my terms of employment:

This Complaint was lodged on the 27th of September 2023.

The contractual date of termination was the 23rd of December 2022.

Section 41(6) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 as amended states:

(6) Subject to subsection (8), an adjudication officer shall not entertain a complaint referred to him or her under this section if it has been presented to the Director General after the expiration of the period of 6 months beginning on the date of the contravention to which the complaint relates.

This complaint was lodged with the commission on the 27th of September 2023. The contractual termination date was the 23rd of December 2022. This means that this Complaint is statute barred as it was lodged 9 months after the employment ended.

CA-00057221-04 I did not receive my paid holiday/annual leave entitlement:

Section 41(6) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 as amended states:

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.