ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00055135
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Patrick Bruen | Beyond Media Rights Limited now part of Banijay Rights Ltd |
Representatives | Self | Ms Dejana Deljanin , Banijay |
Complaint(s):
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 | CA-00057943-001 | 27/07/2023 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 15/04/2025
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael McEntee
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 following the referral of the complaints 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.
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 normally be in Public, Testimony under Oath or Affirmation would be required and full cross examination of all witnesses would be provided for.
The required Affirmation / Oath was administered to all witnesses present. The legal perils of committing Perjury was explained to all parties.
The issue of anonymisation in the published finding of the WRC was considered by the Parties but not deemed necessary.
Background:
The issue in contention concerned the correct Taxation of a Severance Arrangement made in favour of the Complainant following the closure of the Republic of Ireland operation where he had been the Finance Director.
The employment began on the 7th June 2022 and formally ended on the 31st of March 2023 although this was somewhat disputed v/v an end date of the 27th February 2023.
The rate of pay was a gross monthly salary of €11,600 for a 39-hour week. |
1: Opening Issue – Role of the WRC in Taxation Matters.
Background
At the Hearing on the 15th April 2024, it was immediately clear that the major issue in contention was the Taxation of the Severance Payment made to the Complainant. In Particular a very contentious issue was how a Pay in Lieu of Notice Payment (PILON) to the Complainant was taxed. The Complainant, being a professional Accountant, maintained that the Respondent had misunderstood Republic of Ireland Law and redundancy practice.
The Respondent representative, who was not based in Ireland, accepted that she had to rely on advice from Experts familiar with Republic of Ireland Taxation practice. It appeared that the advice had come from a UK based payroll Agency.
To expedite matters the Adjudicator requested the Respondent Representative to secure proper Professional Advice from a reputable Irish based Legal or Taxation Company. This was to form the basis of a Legal statement to the Adjudicator that all Irish Taxation Rules/Regulations were being properly observed.
A letter, purporting to satisfy this requirement, from the well-known Legal firm of Mason, Hayes and Curran was received by the Adjudicator on the 16th May 2025.
In this correspondence Mason, Hayes and Curran stated that they were not Taxation Advisors, and the matter would best be directed to the Irish Revenue Commissioners.
They also pointed out that Taxation issues were outside the jurisdiction of the Workplace Relations Commission.
The letter was copied to the Complainant who strongly contested the views and requested the WRC to issue a statement to the effect that the PILON custom and practice as understood in the Republic of Ireland was contrary to the Respondent and MH&C view.
Adjudication View
Regrettably for the Complainant the issue of Taxation of Severance Payments including PILON is outside the scope of the WRC jurisdiction.
This complaint cannot legally proceed.
It has to be referred for investigation and final decision to the Revenue Commissioners.
2: Findings and Conclusions:
As discussed above, Taxation of Severance Payments (the structure of which can vary widely) is a matter for the Republic of Ireland Revenue Commissioners. The WRC may comment on certain aspects, but the final position has to be with the Revenue. Accordingly, this Complaint cannot proceed as it is outside of the jurisdiction of the Workplace Relations Commission. |
3: Decision:
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 and Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions of the cited Acts.
CA-00057943-001
Having considered the matters presented carefully the complaint is outside the jurisdiction of the WRC.
It has to be deemed Legally Not Properly Founded and cannot proceed.
Dated: 05/06/25
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael McEntee
Key Words:
Redundancy, Taxation. |