ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00055268

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Parties	Thomas Horan	Irish Rail

Representatives

Self Represented

HR Manager

Complaint(s):

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997	CA-00066962-001	25/10/2024

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 17/07/2025

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Peter O'Brien

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 following the referral of the complaint to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint.

This matter was heard by way of remote hearing pursuant to the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 and SI 359/20206, which designates the WRC as a body empowered to hold remote hearings. In deference to the Supreme Court ruling, Zalewski v Ireland and the WRC [2021] IESC 24 on the 6th of April 2021 the Parties were informed in advance that the Hearing would be in Public, Testimony under Oath or Affirmation may be required and full cross examination of all witnesses would be provided for.

Background:

The Complainant was employed as a Patrol Ganger and took voluntary redundancy on July 26th 2023. He submitted his complaint to the WRC on October 25th 2024, some 15 months after he left the employment. His complaint related to unpaid cessor days.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The Complainant did not log into the Hearing and was contacted by the WRC Concierge by phone. He informed the Concierge he was just back from holidays and wanted an adjournment. A previous request for an adjournment had been refused by the WRC. The WRC Concierge informed the Complainant he had to log into the Hearing to request an adjournment. The Complainant logged in approximately 30 minutes after the scheduled start time and stated his case was to do with unpaid cessor days. The Complainant was asked had he seen the Respondent position that the complaint was out of time and had he any comment to make on the Respondent submission. The Complainant informed the Hearing he had contacted his Union and a Minister about the matter and was informed this was the way to go with this complaint.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The Complainant retired from the company on the 26th July 2023 following his agreement to voluntary severance terms offered by the company. The Complainants complaint form to the Workplace Relations Commission is dated 25th October 2024. This is almost exactly 15 months after his retirement on voluntary severance. The company submitted that the Adjudication Officer has no authority to hear this complaint as it was not referred within the time periods set out in the legislation

The Respondent submitted that the complaint is out of time with regard to referral periods specified in the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. Section 27 of the Act states the following: “(4) A rights commissioner shall not entertain a complaint under this section if it is presented to the commissioner after the expiration of the period of 6 months beginning on the date of the contravention to which the complaint relates.

Notwithstanding subsection (4), a rights commissioner may entertain a complaint under this section presented to him or her after the expiration of the period referred to in subsection (4) (but not later than 12 months after such expiration) if he or she is satisfied that the failure to present the complaint within that period was due to reasonable cause. “

Findings and Conclusions:

At the Hearing the Adjudicator confirmed with the Complainant the date the Complainant left the employment and the date he submitted his complaint to the WRC. The Adjudicator informed the Complainant of the legal situation regarding the time allowed to submit a complaint. The Complainant was not happy with this information.

The legal situation regarding the submission of complaints is set out in the Workplace Relations Act 2015 Sec 41 (6) and (8) 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.

I find that the complaint was submitted out of the time allowed by statute and I have no jurisdiction to deal with the substantive complaint.

Decision:

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.

I find the complaint was submitted out of time and the Adjudicator has no statutory power to deal with the substantive complaint.

Dated: 22nd July 2025.

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Peter O'Brien

Key Words:

Wages owing