ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00052659
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Thomas Lynch | Tony Healy t/a Fox And Hounds |
Representatives | Self-represented | No appearance |
Complaint:
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 | CA-00064568-001 | 04/07/2024 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 05/09/2024
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Gaye Cunningham
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and Section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, following the referral of the complaint to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint.
Background:
The complaint is that the Respondent failed to pay the Complainant for annual leave accrued and not taken when he ceased his employment.
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The Complainant stated that he was employed by the Respondent as a Barman from in or around 24 March 2023 to 23 May 2024. His average earnings were €300-€350 per week and he worked around 23 hours per week. Aside from a payment of €250 on two occasions he took holidays, he did not receive payment for annual leave. He also stated that he never received his entitlements to public holidays and he never received payslips. Based on his calculation of 8% of hours worked and taking payment of €500 into account, he estimated he was due at least €1,200.
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The Respondent did not attend the hearing.
Findings and Conclusions:
Section 19 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 provides that an employee shall be entitled to paid annual leave equal to:
“(a) 4 working weeks in a leave year in which he or she works at least 1,365 hours (unless it is a leave year in which he or she changes employment), |
(b) one-third of a working week for each month in the leave year in which he or she works at least 117 hours, or |
(c) 8 per cent. of the hours he or she works in a leave year (but subject to a maximum of 4 working weeks): Provided that if more than one of the preceding paragraphs is applicable in the case concerned and the period of annual leave of the employee, determined in accordance with each of those paragraphs, is not identical, the annual leave to which the employee shall be entitled shall be equal to whichever of those periods is the greater”. |
Section 23 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 provides:
Where – (i) an employee ceases to be employed, and |
(ii) the whole or any portion of the annual leave in respect of the current leave year or, in case the cesser of employment occurs during the first half of that year, in respect of that year, the previous leave year or both those years, remains to be granted to the employee, |
the employee shall, as compensation for the loss of that annual leave, be paid by his or her employer an amount equal to the pay, calculated at the normal weekly rate or, as the case may be, at a rate proportionate to the normal weekly rate, that he or she would have received had he or she been granted that annual leave. In this instant case, the Respondent has not provided the Complainant with his entitlements under the Act and I find his complaint to be well founded. I require the Respondent to pay to the Complainant the sum of €1,200. |
Decision:
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
Based on the findings above, I have decided that the complaint is well founded and I require the Respondent to pay to the Complainant the sum of €1,200.
Dated: 06th September 2024.
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Gaye Cunningham
Key Words:
Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, annual leave accrued and not compensated for on cessation of employment, complaint well founded. |