Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Kristina  Buckiuniene

Precision Clean Limited

Representatives

No Appearance by or on behalf of the Complainant

No Appearance by or on behalf of the Respondent

Act

Complaint Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 12 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973

CA-00068849-001

27/01/2025

On 27 January 2025, the Complainant in her capacity as a Lay Litigant submitted a complaint that she had not received her statutory minimum period of notice on the termination of her employment in her job as a cleaner.

The named employer was notified of this complaint on 3 April 2025 at the same address as that attributed to the complainant.

The case was set for hearing on 21 July 2025 in Cork.

On 17 July 2025, in preparation for hearing, I wrote to both parties seeking a short summary of the case or defense in the case as the narrative of the complaint lodged was ambiguous.

I sought a contract of employment and any relevant documentation.

I heard nothing back from either party.

On 18 July 2025, the Respondent agreed to receive correspondence from the WRC by email and pro-offered a current address different to the one previously notified by the Complainant.

Subsequently, the hearing was cancelled for operational reasons and rescheduled to resume on 24 November 2025.

I am satisfied that both Parties were properly notified of this development on 25 September 2025 at their respective notified points of contact.

I have found the nonappearance of both parties coupled with no explanation or excuse for these absences to be unreasonable and disrespectful to a statutory body.

The Complainant furnished a complaint form which claimed minimum notice at the conclusion of her employment.

She outlined that she commenced work in 2017 and worked until her termination on 21 January 2025. She earned €23.00 per hour for a 20-hour week.

The Complaint form indicated that the complainant was asked to leave her job on 2 January 2025.

She wrote that she had been fired, was unpaid and not in receipt of any bank holidays.

The Complainant did not accept the WRC invitation to provide a submission in her case, and she has not attended the hearing scheduled to inquire into her complaint.

From the papers, it appears that the Respondent, Mr Dave Jackson at Precision Clean ltd was in business with the Complainant.

Apart from a notification of change of address for the Respondent in July 2025, I have no defence in this case.

The Respondent did not accept the WRC invitation to provide a defence in this case. He did not attend the hearing scheduled to inquire into this complaint.

My jurisdiction in this claim is drawn from Section 4 of the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973.

Neither party attended the hearing scheduled in this case. Neither party offered any reason for this absence.

I have waited 5 days from hearing to permit a cogent reason for nonattendance at hearing or any record of withdrawal of claim to come to light. Neither has been forthcoming.

I must find this behaviour unreasonable, given that the WRC was provided with two contact addresses for the parties which have not altered since July 2025.

I am satisfied that notification of hearing issued to each of the parties stated contact points.

Section 42 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 permits me to consider if a claim should be dismissed on frivolous or vexatious grounds?

Dismissal of claim by adjudication officer

42. (1) An adjudication officer may, at any time, dismiss a complaint or dispute referred to him or her under section 41 if he or she is of the opinion that it is frivolous or vexatious.

(2) (a) A person whose complaint or dispute is dismissed in accordance with this section may, not later than 42 days from its dismissal, appeal the dismissal to the Labour Court.

(b) A person shall, when bringing an appeal under this subsection, give notice to the Commission in writing of the bringing of the appeal.

(c) A notice referred to in paragraph (b) shall specify the grounds upon which the appeal is brought.

(3) Upon the hearing of an appeal under this section, the Labour Court may—

(a) affirm the decision of the adjudication officer dismissing the complaint or dispute concerned, or

(b) annul that decision and refer the complaint or dispute to the Director General.

As I am completely reliant on the papers received in this case and have not had the benefit of meeting the parties at hearing, I have to conclude that this is a frivolous complaint which ought to be dismissed.

I have done all in my power to inquire into this claim, but I cannot progress the matter outside evidence from the complainant on what occurred.

It would have been helpful if the parties had offered an update after the July 2025 cancellation of hearing.

I hereby exercise my power acquired from Section 42(1) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and dismiss the claim on frivolous grounds.

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.

Section 12 of the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance Section 4 of that Act.

CA-00068849-001

I have done all in my power to inquire into this claim, but I cannot progress the matter outside evidence from the complainant on what occurred.

It would have been helpful if the parties had offered an update after the July 2025 cancellation of hearing.

I hereby exercise my power derived from Section 42(1) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and dismiss the claim on frivolous grounds.

Non-Appearance by both parties at hearing. Dismissal of claim.