Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Karen  Miley

Sherardia Limited Mercado 52, Juanitos, Ronnefeldt World Or Tea

Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

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Representatives

Tom Musiol Musiol Advisory

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-00065990-001

15/09/2024

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967

CA-00065995-001

15/09/2024

The Complainant alleges that when she was made redundant the Respondent failed to pay her redundancy entitlement, minimum notice, holiday pay and her final weeks wages.

Karen Miley – Affirmation

The Complainant is not legally represented but she did take advice from the Revenue Commissioners, The Department of Social Protection, Legal aid and Citizens information in relation to the matter.

Her employment began on 15th November 2021. Revenue records confirm that she is still an active employee to date.  She did not receive any notice from the Company of its plans to cease trading/ liquate. The liquidators state that the date of liquation is the 26th September and when you add the notice period of two weeks to that, the end date, they say is 10th October 2024. The Complainant disagrees with this date.

 She worded in social media, marketing and photography. She worked out of the office at 52 South William Street.  She worked from the office about 4 – 5 days a week and on the days she wasn’t in the office, she worked form home.  She stopped going into the office in October 2023 when She was told not to come into the office by Mr. Henrics. She was pregnant at the time and her baby was due  on 23rd December.  She had planned on taking maternity leave in early December. However, in the circumstances she took her leave early.

She is seeking a determination as to when her employment ended.  She did not receive any notice of the termination of her employment. She requested that her termination date should be today’s date as she has yet to receive any formal notice and she is still listed as an employee on the Revenue’s website.

She is also claiming for her wages and holiday also up to and including her maternity leave period. That figure has been calculated by the liquidator as € 4,698.54 in relation to her holiday pay, €770 in relation to wages and € 1,540.00 in relation to minimum notice.

Tom Musiol – Liquidator.

Based on a review of Sherardia’s records and the information provided by Ms Miley, our understanding of the position as regards Ms Miley’s length of service and redundancy date is set out below:

 1. Ms Miley’s start date was 15/11/2021 based on Revenue records;

 2. As Ms Miley had informed the company that she was pregnant ahead of the cessation of trade in October 2023, Sherardia was not legally allowed to make her redundant together with its other employees on 23/10/2023 as she was a protected employee at this point;

 3. According to the company’s last payroll of 29/10/2023, Ms Miley was entitled to arrears of wages in the amount of €770 and holiday pay in the amount of €1,617. The company did not pay these amounts to her;

 4. The amount of holiday pay represents 10.5 days. As Ms Miley’s pro rata holiday entitlement up to this last payroll date was 16.5 days, this suggests that the company recorded her as having taken 5 days out during 2023;

 5. Ms Mileys’ formal maternity leave period started on 30/10/2023 and lasted till 29/04/2024;

6. Ms Miley has advised us that she then took unpaid maternity leave from 30/04/2024 to 19/06/24;

7. Ms Miley has been in receipt of illness benefit since 20/06/2024 to date;

8. Ms Miley did not receive any notice from the company of its plan to liquidate;

9. From a liquidation point of view, and based on our dealings with the Department of Social Protections Redundancy Payments Scheme, in the absence of any alternative decision from the WRC, the DSP will assess Ms Miley’s redundancy date as the date of liquidation, 26 September 2024, plus 2 weeks statutory notice, being 10 October 2024, as from the date of liquidation the company was clearly incapable of providing continued employment;

10. After our appointment it has taken considerable time for us to access all of the information and background to Ms Miley’s employment history given the lack of books and records available to us on our appointment so we had to interview various parties to get a reasonably accurate picture of the history of employment between the company and Ms Miley;

11. In light of the above, we believe that that appropriate course of action is to set out the facts as we understand them and then reflect the determination of the WRC in relation to the redundancy date in the case of Ms Miley should it differ from the date that we would normally use – being the date of liquidation plus 2 weeks’ notice – 10 October 2024;

The Complainant commenced her employment with the Respondent on the 15th November 2021. She was requested by the Company not to come into the office again from the mid October 2023. She was due to commence her maternity leave shortly after that date, but she moved that date to accommodate the Company position. She never received notice, formal or otherwise that the Company was to cease trading. During her leave she checked her status on the Revenue website and noted that she was still listed as being an employee of the Company. Following the birth of her child she became unwell and sought assistant from medical professionals. She was certified unfit to work until the end of March 2025. As her status on the Revenue Commissioners site was that of an active employee she was informed by the Department of Social Protection, they having independently confirmed her status on the Revenue site, that she was entitled to illness benefit. She has been in receipt of illness benefit accordingly. That was the correct payment for her to be in receipt of at that time based on the circumstances that existed at that time.

I am asked by both parties to determine the end date of her employment for the purpose of calculating her redundancy payment. In circumstances where no notice was ever given to the Complainant and she was out on maternity leave, I find that the end date is the date upon which the Company formally went in liquidation. That was 26th September 2024. However, her notice period needs to be taken into consideration. She was entitled to two weeks notice, bringing her end date to 10th October 2024.

CA- 65990-001 – I find that the Complaint is well founded. I award the Complainant € 770.00 in relation unpaid wages. € 4,698.54 in relation to her holiday day up to and including her maternity leave. € 1,540.00 in relation to her minimum notice.

CA – 65955 – 001 I find that the complaint in relation redundancy is well founded and the Complaint is entitled to a Redundancy payment based on the following:

Start date: 15.11. 2021

End date: 10.10.2024

Wages:€ 770 per week.

CA- 65990-001 – I find that the Complaint is well founded. I award the Complainant €770.00 in relation unpaid wages. € 4,698.54 in relation to her holiday day up to and including her maternity leave. € 1,540.00 in relation to her minimum notice. The total being €7,008.54

CA – 65955 – 001 I find that the complaint in relation redundancy is well founded. The Complainant is entitled to a Redundancy payment based on the following:

Start date: 15.11. 2021

End date: 10.10.2024

Wages: €770 gross per week.