Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Barry Corbet

Phase MEP Limited

Representatives

Represented himself 

 Represented by management

Act

Complaint Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994

CA-00072155-001

06/06/2025

The complainant is an electrical engineer and he commenced working for the respondent on March 13th 2025.  It was agreed at the hearing that he was paid €1,400 per week.  He resigned on May 31st 2025, having working for the respondent for 10 weeks.  On the e-complaint form he sent to the WRC on June 6th 2025, he said that he received a contract of employed after he resigned. 

The respondent did not dispute the complainant’s contention that he was not issued with a contract of employment until after the termination of his employment.

Section 3 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act was amended by the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018, resulting in a new obligation on employers to provide a written statement of certain terms and conditions of employment within five days of an employee’s start date.  Generally referred to as “core” terms and conditions, s.3(1A) of the Act provides that the statement must contain the following information:

1.       The name of the employer and the employee;

2.       The address of the place of employment or the registered address of the employer;

3.       If the contract is temporary, the start and end dates;

4.       The wages for the job, the frequency and method of payment and the pay reference period for the purposes of the National Minimum Wage Act 2000;

5.       The daily and weekly hours of work;

6.       The place of work;

7.       The job title or a brief description of the work the employee is expected to do;

8.       The date of commencement;

9.       The policy on hours of work including overtime;

10.   The probation policy.

In the case of this complainant, he commenced work with the respondent on March 13th 2025, and he became entitled to a statement of his core terms and conditions on March 18th.

Section 3(1) of the Act provides that, within one month of an employee commencing with a new employer, they are entitled to a written statement of other terms and conditions: 

1.       Whether a registered employment agreement or employment regulation order applies to the job and, if so, details of where to obtain a copy;

2.       Notification that the employee is entitled to receive a statement of his or her average hourly rate of pay, in accordance with s.23 of the National Minimum Wage Act 2000;

3.       The interval between the times at which wages are paid, that is, weekly, monthly or otherwise;

4.       Any terms or conditions related to incapacity for work due to sickness or injury and paid sick leave;

5.       The policy on other types of paid leave (other than sick leave);

6.       The terms and conditions related to pensions and pension schemes;

7.       The notice that the employee is required to give and the notice that he or she is entitled to receive at the termination of their employment;

8.       Details of any collective agreement which affects the employee’s terms and conditions of employment;

9.       Details of any training to which the new employee is entitled;

10.   In the case of an unpredictable pattern of work, the statement must inform the employee about the number of hours that are guaranteed to be paid and the pay for work in addition to the guaranteed hours and the minimum notice of the start of a work assignment;

11.   Where it is the responsibility of the employer, the identity of the social security institutions receiving the social insurance contributions associated with the job.

The complainant was entitled to this statement before the expiry of the first month of his employment on April 12th 2024.  When he resigned on May 31st, he had still not been issued with this statement, making it difficult for him to assert his rights during and at the termination of his employment. 

In a hearing at the Labour Court in 2019 in the case of Megan Hayes Kelly and Beechfield Private Homecare[1], Ms Hayes Kelly claimed that her employer was in breach of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act because there were omissions and errors in her contract of employment.  In his determination on this complaint, the Chairman, Mr Haugh, considered the errors and omissions to be “at the serious end of the spectrum” and awarded the maximum of four weeks’ pay in redress.  I note that this approach has been followed in more recent decisions of the Labour Court in Top Cap and Jean Gillespie[2] and Horan Eco Services Limited and Vaida Smigelskiene[3].  As the failure to issue any statement of terms and conditions of employment must be considered more serious than issuing an imperfect statement, I must follow the authority of the Labour Court and make the maximum award in the case under consideration here.

I decide that this complaint is well founded and I direct the respondent to pay the complainant compensation of €5,600, equivalent to four weeks’ pay.  In accordance with s.192A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, this award is not subject to deductions for PAYE, PRSI or USC.

Failure to issue statements of terms and conditions of employment