PWD2523

PARTIES:

DIVISION:

SUBJECT:

Appeal of Adjudication Officer Decision No's: ADJ-00038786 (CA 00049767-001)

BACKGROUND:

This is an appeal of an Adjudication Officer’s Decision made pursuant to the Payment of Wages Act,

1991. The appeal was heard by the Labour Court in accordance with Section 44 of the Workplace

Relations Act, 2015. 

The following is the Court's Decision:

DECISION:

This is an appeal of an Adjudicator Officer decision (ADJ-00038786, CA-00049657-001, dated 27 May 2024) in relation to a complaint made under the Payments of Wages Acts, 1991.

The Adjudication Officer found that the complaint was well founded and awarded €6,350 in respect of wages due.

A Labour Court hearing scheduled to take place on 19 March 2025 in Sligo was postponed by the Court due to unforeseen circumstances. The hearing was rescheduled to Monday, 12 May 2025.

On Thursday, 8 May 2025, legal representatives acting for the Respondent, Bernie Crawford, wrote to the Court to say that they had just received instructions from their client, and they wished to request an adjournment to familiarise themselves with the details of the claim. The application was refused by the Court, having regard to short notice application for the postponement, and the hearing confirmed for Monday 12 May 2025. The Respondent’s legal representatives replied to say that they received instructions to represent the Respondent at the Appeal very late in the day and unfortunately were unable to attend the hearing due to prior commitments. The Respondent did not attend the hearing.

Preliminary Matters

A preliminary matter arises in this case regarding whether or not a valid appeal was lodged to the Court.

Position of the Appellant

Bridget Browne, on behalf of the Appellant, lodged documentation purporting to be an appeal to the Labour Court on 5 July 2024 within the 42-day time limit for lodging appeals. She was notified by the Court that to process an appeal the Labour Court required a fully completed appeals form and a copy of the WRC decision.

Bridget Browne, on behalf of the Appellant, lodged two employment rights appeal forms to the Court via the portal on 13 July 2024. Neither form included the name of the Appellant employer cited on the Adjudication Officer’s decision.

Ms Browne submitted to the Court that she got mixed up when submitting the forms and omitted to include the name of the Appellant employer - Bravo Fitness Ltd.

Position of the Respondent

The Respondent did not attend the hearing.

Relevant Law and Rules – Preliminary Matter

The making of appeals to the Labour Court is governed by s.44 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015. Sections 44 (2) (3) and (4) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 Act provide as follows:

(2) An appeal under this section shall be initiated by the party concerned giving a notice in writing to the Labour Court containing such particulars as are determined by the Labour Court in accordance with rules under subsection (5) of section 20 of the Act of 1946 and stating that the party concerned is appealing the decision to which it relates.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), a notice under subsection (2) shall be given to the Labour Court not later than 42 days from the date of the decision concerned.

The relevant rules are contained in the Labour Court Rules 2024, which the Court is authorised to make under s.20(5) of the Industrial Relations Act 1946, and which state as follows: -

23. The appeal shall be initiated by notice in writing, including by email, or via the Labour Court portal delivered to the Court within 42 days from the date of the decision being appealed. In accordance with the provisions of the Interpretation Act 2005 the date of the decision is day 1 of the 42-day period. Appeals sent by post can be given to the Court in the ordinary course of the Court’s business and the date of receipt by the Court will be recorded using a date stamp manually applied on the day the appeal is received. Appeals submitted by email or via the Labour Court portal can be made up to 12 midnight on the 42nd day and the date of receipt will be the date and time automatically recorded on the email/Labour Court portal.
24. If the appeal is not made within the requisite 42 days, then application should be made to the Court in accordance with Section 44(4) of the 2015 Act, to extend time for bringing an appeal and giving the grounds upon which, the extension is sought. The grounds for any such extension of time should form part of the written submission of the Appellant. Such an extension of time will only be granted in exceptional circumstances.
25. The notice of appeal shall be completed in full and accompanied by a copy of the decision of the Adjudication Officer to which the appeal relates.
26. The notice referred to at Rule 23 & 25 above shall be given on a form provided by the Court for that purpose.
27. Where the appeal is made via the Labour Court portal the Appellant is required to provide the same information as requested in the appeal form.

Deliberations and Findings

The deadline to submit the within appeal to the Labour Court was 7 July 2024, having regard to the statutory timeframe set out at s.44(2) of the Workplace Relations Act.

The combined effect of s.44(2) of the Act and the relevant provisions of the Labour Court Rules is to prescribe what is needed to validly initiate an appeal to the Court. Conversely, a notice sent to the Court that does not comply with these requirements cannot constitute a valid initiation of an appeal.

On reviewing the correspondence between the parties, it is clear that the Appellant was informed that the initial document submitted by her to the Court on 5 July 2025 could not be processed and was returned to her. The fact that the Labour Court sent back the purported appeal and did not keep a copy very clearly points to the fact that there was no acceptance of the document as an appeal.

An employment rights appeal form was lodged to the Labour Court on 13 July 2024.

In response to questions from the Court, Bridget Brown, on behalf of the Appellant, accepts that the form lodged to the Court was incomplete insofar as it did not provide the name of the Appellant cited on the Adjudication Officer Decision.

Based on documentation submitted on 13 July 2025 the Court finds that the only Appellant before the Court is Bridget Browne and there is no Appeal on behalf of Bravo Fitness Ltd.

It is up to each Appellant to provide the Labour Court with the correct contact details for progressing an appeal. Having regard to the facts as presented, the Court finds that the omission of the name of the Appellant employer on the employment rights appeal form renders the appeal made on 13 July 2025 invalid and out of time.

Decision

In circumstances where the Court was not provided with a valid appeal, the Court cannot proceed to hear the substantive matter.

The appeal is rejected, and the Decision of the Adjudication Officer is upheld.

The Court so decides.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Katie Connolly
CC	______________________
11 June 2025	Deputy Chairman

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Decision should be addressed to Ms Ceola Cronin, Court Secretary.