Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Colin  Kelly

Gyrogy Ltd

Representatives

Self-represented 

Darach MacNamara BL instructed by Anna Tuite, Ahern Rudden Quigley LLP

Act

Complaint

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994

CA-00075982-001

03/10/2025

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991

CA-00075983-001

03/10/2025

The Complainant referred the above claims to the Director General of the WRC on 3 October 2025 pursuant to the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 and the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994.

The Complainant had previously referred a claim pursuant to the Payment of Wages Act 1991 to the Director General of the WRC on 30 April 2025 (ADJ-00058697).

In the interests of fairness and efficiency both the Complainant’s complaints against the Respondent pursuant to the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 and the complaint pursuant to the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 were listed for a hearing on 4 December 2025.

This decision should be read in conjunction with the decision issued in ADJ-00058697.

The Complainant submits that at no stage was he provided with a written statement of his terms and conditions of employment as required by the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994.

The Complainant asserted that the Respondent failed to produce any valid contract in the WRC proceedings and instead presented an unsigned draft document from a different time, which cannot satisfy the statutory obligation. The duty to issue such a statement lies with the Respondent’s Chairman and the Company Secretary. The Respondent has therefore remained in continuing contravention of its duties under the Act.

The Respondent submits that it has satisfied its obligations under the Act.

Without prejudice to the foregoing, if the Adjudication Officer finds that the Respondent breached its obligation to provide a written statement of the terms and conditions of the Complainant’s employment, it is submitted that, in deciding the level of compensation (up to the maximum 4 weeks threshold), the Adjudication Officer should exercise her discretion in awarding a nominal sum having regard to the Complainant’s contribution to the breach having regard to his role as CEO of the Respondent company and his obligation to enter into a Service Agreement as provided for in the Subscription and Shareholders’ Agreement dated 23 December 2021.

The Law

Sections 3(1) and 3(1A) of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 provide:

“Written statement of terms of employment:

3(1) An employer shall, not later than one month after the commencement of an employee’s employment with the employer, give or cause to be given to the employee a statement in writing containing the following particulars of the terms of the employee’s employment, that is to say-…

(fa) a reference to any registered employment agreement or employment regulation order which applies to the employee and confirmation of where the employee may obtain a copy of such agreement or order,…

(ga) that the employee may, under section 23 of the National Minimum Wage Act, 2000, request from the employer a written statement of the employee’s average hourly rate of pay for any pay reference period as provided in that section,

(h) the length of the intervals between the times at which remuneration is paid, whether a week, a month or any other interval,…

(j) any terms or conditions relating to paid leave (other than paid sick leave),

(k) any terms or conditions relating to- (i) incapacity for work due to sickness or injury and paid sick leave, and (ii) pensions and pension schemes,

(l) the period of notice which the employee is required to give and entitled to receive (whether by or under statute or under the terms of the employee’s contract of employment) to determine the employee’s contract of employment or, where this cannot be indicated when the information is given, the method for determining such periods of notice,

(m) a reference to any collective agreements which directly affect the terms and conditions of the employee’s employment including, where the employer is not a party to such agreements, particulars of the bodies or institutions by whom they were made,

(n) the training entitlement, if any, provided by the employer,

(o) in the case of a temporary contract of employment, the identity of the user undertakings (within the meaning of Directive 2008/104/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 20085 on temporary agency work), when and as soon as known, and

(p) if the work pattern of an employee is entirely or mostly unpredictable, the statement shall inform the employee of - (i) the principle that the work schedule is variable, the number of guaranteed paid hours and the remuneration for work performed in addition to those guaranteed hours, (ii) the reference hours and days within which the employee may be required to work, and (iii) the minimum notice period to which the employee is entitled to before the start of a work assignment and, where applicable, the deadline for notification in accordance with section 17 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, and

(q) where it is the responsibility of the employer, the identity of the social security institutions receiving the social insurance contributions attached to the contract of employment and any protection relating to social security provided by the employer;

(1A) Without prejudice to subsection (1), an employer shall, not later than 5 days after the commencement of an employee’s employment with the employer, give or cause to be given to the employee a statement in writing containing the following particulars of the terms of the employee’s employment, that is to say:

(a) the full names of the employer and the employee,

(b) the address of the employer in the State or, where appropriate, the address of the principal place of the relevant business of the employer in the State or the registered office (within the meaning of the Companies Act 2014),

(c) in the case of a temporary contract of employment, the expected duration thereof or, if the contract of employment is for a fixed term, the date on which the contract expires,

(d) the remuneration, including the initial basic amount, any other component elements, if applicable, indicated separately, the frequency and method of payment of the remuneration to which the employee is entitled and the pay reference period for the purposes of the National Minimum Wage Act 2000,

(e) the number of hours which the employer reasonably expects the employee to work- (i) per normal working day, and (ii) per normal working week,

(f) where sections 4B to 4E (in so far as they are in operation) of the Payment of Wages Act 1991 apply to the employer, the employer’s policy on the manner in which tips or gratuities and mandatory charges (within the meaning of section 1 of that Act) are treated,

(g) the place of work or, where there is no fixed or main place of work, a statement specifying that the employee is employed at various places or is free to determine his or her place of work or to work at various places,

(h) either- (i) the title, grade, nature or category of work for which the employee is employed, or (ii) a brief specification or description of the work,

(i) the date of commencement of the employee’s contract of employment,

(j) any terms or conditions relating to hours of work (including overtime),

(k) where a probationary period applies, its duration and conditions.”

Section 3A of the Act provides:

“Form of statement to be provided

A statement furnished by an employer under section 3, 4, 5, 6, 6E or 6F shall be—

(a) signed and dated by or on behalf of the employer,

(b) in writing, and

(c) transmitted on paper or, provided that the information is accessible to the employee, that it can be stored and printed, and that the employer retains proof of transmission or receipt, in electronic form.”

Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 Act provides that an employee may present a complaint to the Director General of the Workplace Relations Commission that their employer has contravened section 3 of the Act before the expiration of the six months period beginning on the date of contravention to which the complaint relates. The issue as to “the date of contravention” arose in An Animal Carer v A Charity ADJ-00009820 and An Employee v A Company ADJ-00012491. It was held that a contravention of section 3 was “a subsisting contravention that endures so long after the initial two month period the employee remains an employee not in possession of a statement”. Once a statement was provided, time started to run. If no statement was provided at any stage during the employment relationship, and this came to an end, the employee could refer a complaint within six months from the last day of their employment.

The Complainant is the CEO of the Respondent’s company responsible for the day-to-day operation of the business. He is also a Director of the Company, albeit he appointed his wife, Ms Galvin as an alternate director on or around 23 April 2025.

I note that, while the Complainant has submitted that as an employee of the Respondent, he was entitled to have a written statement of his terms and conditions of employment, he was also a director of the company and he was obliged to ensure the interests of employees.

There was no dispute that an arrangement was made with an investor whereby the Complainant, prior to the investment, was to enter into a contract of employment with the Respondent.

There was also no dispute that a 27-page contract of employment was furnished to the Complainant for his perusal. In his email of 26 November 2021, the Complainant confirmed that he had reviewed the document and it should be “dated at the incorporation of the Company 7 August 2020.” He raised no issues whatsoever with the contents of the document.

The Complainant asserted that his employment with the Respondent did not commence at that time, that he never signed the contract, and that no new contract was issued to him when the employment relationship crystallised in or around September 2022.

Even if it was accepted that the Complainant did not become an employee of the Respondent for some time after the terms of employment were issued to him, on a plain reading of sections 3(1) and 3(1A), in my view, there is nothing in these provisions that precludes a statement of terms of employment being provided before the commencement of employment. However, the document must comply with the requirements of the Act.

I find that the document outlining detailed terms and conditions of employment of the Complainant was transmitted in electronic form, and the information was accessible to the Complaint via email, it could be downloaded and saved or printed. Therefore, the requirements of section 3A(b) and (c) were met. However, as the document was not signed and dated by or on behalf of the employer,it did not meet the requirement of section 3A(a).

I declare this complaint to be well founded.

I require the Respondent to give or cause to be given to the Complainant a written statement containing such particulars as required by the Act.

In the circumstances where the Complainant is the Director and the CEO of the Respondent responsible for the day-to-day operation of the business, while I find in his favour, I deem that no compensation is just and equitable.

The Complainant submits that this complaint arises out of the same facts as the complaint bearing the reference number ADJ-00058697. It extends that complaint to cover the subsequent period from May 2025 to September 2025 inclusive, during which the Complainant alleges that the Respondent failed to pay him his agreed monthly salary as Chief Executive Officer.

The Complainant asserts that the continued withholding of salary constitutes an ongoing contravention of the Act, and he seeks an order directing payment of all sums due for this period together with such further relief as the Adjudication Officer considers appropriate.

The Complainant asserts that, as of 30 September 2025, he was due €93,750.

The Complainant’s detailed submission is contained in ADJ-00058697.

The Respondent rejects the claim. The Respondent’s detailed submission is contained in ADJ-00058697.

In line with my finding in ADJ-00058697, I find that the Complainant was entitled to a portion of his weekly wages (one fifth) for the period from 1 May 2025 to 18 May 2025 and had no entitlement to any wages in the period from 19 May 2025 to 3 October 2025.

I declare this complaint partly well founded.

I direct the Respondent to pay the Complainant a payment of one day per week for the period from 1 to 18 May 2025.  As the week commencing on 28 April 2025 was included in the award granted to the Complainant in ADJ-00058697, the Complainant is entitled to one day’s pay for the week commencing 5 May 2025, and one day’s pay for the week commencing 12 May 2025 (a weekly wage of €3,846.15 gross/5 equalling €769.23 x 2).

I direct the Respondent to pay the Complainant the sum of €1,538.46 gross.

Payment of wages – withdrawal of service-