ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00059475
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Rian Bolger | Covalen |
Representatives |
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Complaint:
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 11A of the Protection of Employment Act 1977 | CA-00072174-001 | 06/06/2025 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 10/07/2026
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Penelope McGrath
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41(4) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 an employee can present a complaint or complaints or dispute of any perceived contravention by the Employer of any of the Acts (Statutes) contained in Schedule 5 of the Workplace Relations Act of 2015. Any such complaint (usually presented in the format of a workplace relations complaint form) is made to the Director General of the WRC. The said Director General can then refer the complaint to the Adjudication services. It is in these circumstances that this matter has come before me - an Adjudication Officer engaged by the Adjudication division of the WRC - to make all relevant inquiries into the complaint or complaints made. Where appropriate, I hear the parties’ oral evidence, and I can give consideration to any supporting evidence provided by witnesses or relevant documentation.
In this instance, the Complainant has made one complaint of the Employer having contravened an Act contained in Schedule 5 above referred to. This complaint is in respect of a contravention of the Protection of Employment Act 1977 and in particular the obligation on employer to consult employees' representatives.
Section 9. of the Protection of Employment Act 1977 states:
(1) Where an employer or a responsible person proposes to create collective redundancies, he or she shall, with a view to reaching an agreement, initiate consultations with employees’ representatives.
(2) Consultations under this section shall include the following matters—
(a) the possibility of avoiding the proposed redundancies, reducing the number of employees affected by them or mitigating their consequences by recourse to accompanying social measures aimed, inter alia, at aid for redeploying or retraining employees made redundant,
(b) the basis on which it will be decided which particular employees will be made redundant.
(3) Consultations under this section shall be initiated at the earliest opportunity and in any event at least 30 days before the first notice of dismissal is given.
(4) Where an employer has initiated consultations with employees’ representatives under this section, a responsible person may continue any consultation so initiated.
Background:
This hearing was to be conducted in person in the Workplace Relations Commission situate in Lansdowne Road, Dublin. In line with the Supreme Court decision in the constitutional case of Zalewski -v- An Adjudication Officer and the Workplace Relations Commission and Ireland and the Attorney General [2021] IESC 24 (delivered on the 6th of April 2021) the hearing was to be conducted in recognition of the fact that the proceedings constitute the administration of Justice. It was therefore open to members of the public to attend this hearing. Had evidence been given it would have been in compliance with the Workplace Relations (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2021 which came intoeffecton the 29th of July 2021, and which said legislation accommodates situations where there is the potential for a serious and direct conflict in the evidence between the parties to a complaint. In such circumstances, an oath or an affirmation may be required to be administered to any person giving evidence before me. It is noted that the giving of false statements or evidence is an offence. The complaint herein was brought to the attention of the WRC on the 6th of June 2025 by way of a workplace relations complaint form. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The Complainant did not attend. I am satisfied that the Complainant was notified of the date, time and venue for this hearing by a letter sent from the WRC - dated the 26th of May 2026 - and sent to the address of the representative nominated in the workplace relations complaint form. The complaint being made by the Complainant was set out as follows: Covalen informed me on the 7th May 2025 that I was at risk of redundancy, along with a large part of the team I am on. They set my final work day as the 7th of June, 30 days from this communication, without actually telling me if I was among the number of people being made redundant, or if my position was safe. The position, if safe, was relocating back to the office after almost 2 years of working remotely. 1-on-1 meetings with a HR representative followed, where some employees were told June 7th was not the final working date. I asked about this in my own 1-on-1 and I was told it in fact was. Lots of contradictory information of this nature was given to employees in these meetings. I also informed the representative I was speaking to that travelling to the office in Sandyford to continue my employment was not possible, given the 3+ hour commute it would require from me. The HR representative agreed that I would likely be one of the redundant employees as a consequence of this, but still no official redundancy had been declared. This untenable commute from my location to the Sandyford office does not seem to have been noted down by the representative or to have been a factor in the later actions of Covalen regarding my position. We repeatedly directed questions to multiple members of staff for clarity on who was losing a job, when that would happen, and what the responsibilities and roles of remaining staff would be to little success. On the 20th May 2025, I was informed my redundancy notice was rescinded and I was to remain with the company. There was no information given on what my role would be or where I would be expected to perform it in this email. The next day, 21st May 2025, I was informed my last day of working from home would be the 20th of June, 2025, and that I would be expected in the office from 23rd June 2025 onwards. The reason given was simply "organisational needs." A series of grievances were lodged with the Covalen by myself and others affected, my own being sent on 26th May 2025, where we declared the redundancy process has not been adhered to correctly by the company, and that no suitable role was offered to employees such as myself when these redundancies were rescinded. I was told by a HR Business Partner to redirect my grievance to my direct manager on the 28th May 2025. On the 29th, my team leader assured me he would speak to the direct manager about this grievance. As of writing this (6th June 2025) I have received no further correspondence. On 4th June 2025, after investigating viable means of commuting to the office and finding it was still not possible. I contacted HR again to remind them of the untenable commute they were proposing, and that I had not received a material, satisfactory response to my grievance lodged on the 26th, and that I would be contacting the WRC as a result. Again, as of 6th June 2025, I have received no further correspondence.
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Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The Respondent did not attend. I am satisfied that an attempt was made to notify the Respondent of the date, time and venue for this hearing by a letter sent from the WRC - dated the 26th of May 2026 - and posted to the address provided in the Workplace Relations Complaint Form. This communication came back undelivered. |
Findings and Conclusions:
The Complainant did not attend to make his case. |
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.
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 11A of the Protection of Employment Act 1977 CA-00072174-001 – The complaint herein is not well-founded
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Dated: 13th of August 2026
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Penelope McGrath
Key Words:
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