Adjudication Reference:  ADJ-00053514

Parties:

Complaint:

Date of Adjudication Hearing:  21/08/2025

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer:  Gaye Cunningham

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act,  and/or Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 - 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.

Background:

The Complainant contends that he was unfairly dismissed for having made a complaint to the WRC Inspectorate about unpaid holiday pay.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The Complainant was employed as a Chef from 17 July 2003 to 30 July 2024.  He was working until 11.30pm on 29 July 2024 and when he came into work the next day the place was closed.  He had looked for payment which he was entitled to and a Labour Inspector found he was owed holiday pay.  He believed he was dismissed because of this.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The Respondent stated that the business closed due to extreme financial difficulties.  There were also some health inspections and the closure was nothing to do with the complainant’s holiday pay.

Findings and Conclusions:

The question is was the complainant dismissed unfairly or was he made redundant?  The respondent produced some financial information post hearing that demonstrated the business was in financial difficulties.  I note the point the complainant made about the Labour Inspector.  However, I find that the business is described as ‘permanently closed’ and I find that the reason the complainant was dismissed was because of redundancy.

Section 6 (4) of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 provides:

Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, the dismissal of an employee shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, not to be an unfair dismissal, if it results wholly or mainly from one or more of the following:…

(c) the redundancy of the employee..

Section 7(2) of the Redundancy Payments Acts provides:

“(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), an employee who is dismissed shall be taken to be dismissed by reason of redundancy if [for one or more reasons not related to the employee concerned] the dismissal is attributable wholly or mainly to—

• (a) the fact that his employer has ceased, or intends to cease, to carry on the business for the purposes of which the employee was employed by him, or has ceased or intends to cease, to carry on that business in the place where the employee was so employed..

It is a regrettable fact that the respondent as the employer did not acknowledge the complainant’s right to redundancy, given that he had twenty one years’ service with the employer.  However, this complaint was submitted under the Unfair Dismissals Act.  As I find it is misconceived under the Unfair Dismissals Act I find it to be not well founded.

Decision:

Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaints in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.

The complaint is misconceived under the Act and I have decided that it is not well founded. 

Dated:   09/10/2025

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer:  Gaye Cunningham

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