Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Norma  Glennon

Blessington And District CE Ltd

Representatives

John Glennon

Act

Complaint/Dispute 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-00060704-001

22/12/2023

This matter was heard by way of remote hearing pursuant to the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2020 and S.I. No. 359/2020 which designates the WRC as a body empowered to hold remote hearings.

The complainant and two witnesses for the respondent gave their evidence under affirmation. The evidence of the witnesses was not in contention and so no cross examination took place.

The complainant was employed under a community employment scheme.  She submitted that she was not notified in writing of a change to her terms of employment. She submitted that her retirement date was due to be 3 October 2023 and contended that she had a contract of employment up to that date.  She submitted that her replacement arrived in February 2023, and she continued working a number of weeks to train in the new person. She has also submitted that she has attended a number of weeks since then to cover for when her replacement was on leave.

The complainant submitted that since 3 October 2022 all of her work has been unpaid. She noted that the respondent is an entirely voluntary organisation with no independent funding of its own and the sole founder is the department of social protection.  She noted that the supervisor and the chairman of the community employment scheme specifically requested that she be allowed to continue in her employment up to her 67th birthday on 3 October 2023. She said a number of letters were submitted from the respondent to the department to this effect. 

The complainant contended that she had a contract of employment that stipulated 67 as the retirement age.

In evidence the complainant confirmed that she was last paid at the end of September 2022.

The respondent submitted that the complainant’s employment ceased on 30 September 2022 on instruction from the Department of Social protection as they were no longer going to fund this position as, by their guidelines, the complainant had reached retirement age of 66 years. The respondent noted that the complainant admirably remained with them until 3 February 2023 in an unpaid voluntary position.

Section 5 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 states as follows:

Notification of changes.

5.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), whenever a change is made or occurs in any of the particulars of the statement furnished by an employer under section 3, 4 or 6, the employer shall notify the employee in writing of the nature and date of the change as soon as may be thereafter, but not later than—

(a) the day on which the change takes effect, or

(b) where the change is consequent on the employee being required to work outside the State for a period of more than 1 month, the time of the employee’s departure.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to a change occurring in provisions of statutes or instruments made under statute, other than a registered employment agreement or employment regulation order, or of any other laws or of any administrative provisions or collective agreements referred to in the statement given under section 3 or 4.

However, the timeframe within which a complaint may be made is governed by the Workplace Relations Act, 2015.

Section 41 (6) & (8) of the Workplace Relations Act outlines the timeframe within which a complaint may be considered under the Act.

Section 41(6) & (8) state as follows:

(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.

…

(8) An adjudication officer may entertain a complaint or dispute to which this section applies presented or referred to the Director General after the expiration of the period referred to in subsection (6) or (7) (but not later than 6 months after such expiration), as the case may be, if he or she is satisfied that the failure to present the complaint or refer the dispute within that period was due to reasonable cause.

The respondent submitted that he complainants’ employment ceased on 30 September 2022.  This was confirmed in evidence by the complainant.  As the complaint was lodged with the Director of the Workplace Relations Commission on 12 December 2023, it falls outside of the time frame comprehended by either Section 41(6) or Section 41(8) of the Workplace Relations Act.  Accordingly, I am obliged to find that the complaint was made outside of the time limits proscribed by the Workplace Relations Act, 2015.

Having regard to the evidence of the complainant and the respondent, my decision is that this complaint was made outside of the proscribed time limits.

Terms of Employment (Information) Act – Workplace Relations Act - complaint made outside time limits contained in the Act