ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00065734
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Volodymyr Okon | Glanmore Construction Limited |
Representatives | Represented himself | Peninsula Business Services Ireland |
Complaint:
Act | Complaint Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 | CA-00080400-001 | 04/02/2026 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 19/05/2026
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2014, this complaint was assigned to me by the Director General. I conducted a hearing on May 19th 2026 and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard and to present evidence relevant to the complaint. The complainant, Mr Vlodomyr Okon, represented himself, with the support of his wife, Ms Natalie Okon. Glanmore Construction Limited was represented by Ms Shannon O’Carolan of Peninsula Business Services Ireland. Ms Tetyana Dmytrash is the company secretary and she attended the hearing with her husband, Mr Andryi Dmytrash, who is the managing director.
While the parties are named in this Decision, from here on, I will refer to Mr Okon as “the complainant” and to Glanmore Construction Limited as “the respondent.”
Background:
The respondent is a small building company that carried out extensions and renovations. The complainant is a building worker and he commenced working for the respondent on October 1st 2021. In January 2026, his annual salary, which was paid monthly, was €35,340, equivalent to €679.62 per week. At the end of December 2025, four people were employed, with the managing director, Mr Dmytrash, also involved in the construction work. In January 2026, the business had run into debt and there were insufficient funds to pay the wages of the four employees. On January 16th 2026, Ms Dmytrash wrote to the complainant to inform him that his employment would be terminated on January 31st due to unavoidable financial difficulties. The complainant wrote to Mr and Ms Dmytrash on January 26th, seeking a redundancy payment; however, I understand from the evidence of the directors that, when they approached their accountant to ask him to complete the necessary documents to allow the complainant to claim a redundancy payment from the Department of Social Protection, the accountant refused, because he was owed money by them. At the hearing, Ms O’Carolan informed me that the respondent paid the complainant’s wages until January 31st 2026. In her evidence, Ms Dmytrash informed me that the company has ceased carrying out any construction work and that Mr Dmytrash has had no income since January 2026. It is the complainant’s case that he has been dismissed by the respondent due to the closure of the business and that he is entitled to a statutory redundancy payment. |
Findings and Conclusions:
Section 7 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 sets out five specific circumstances in which an employee may be entitled to a redundancy payment, the first of which is: “(a) the fact his employer has ceased or intends to cease to carry on the business for the purpose 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[.]” As the complainant’s employer has ceased operations in the place where he was employed, his job has become redundant. As he has completed more than two years of service, he is entitled to a redundancy payment. |
Decision:
Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 – 2014 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under that Act.
Subject to his PRSI contribution status, I have decided that the complainant is entitled to a statutory redundancy payment based on his service from October 1st 2021 until January 31st 2026. |
Dated: 20th May 2026
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Key Words:
Redundancy payment, business closure |