UDD268

PARTIES:

DIVISION:

SUBJECT:

Appeal of Adjudication Officer Decision No's: ADJ-00053542 (CA-00065364-001)

BACKGROUND:

The Worker appealed the Decision of the Adjudication Officer to the Labour Court on 21st January 2025 in accordance with Section 8A of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 to 2015. A Labour Court hearing took place on 4th March 2026.

The following is the Decision of the Court.

DECISION:

The Appeal

This is an appeal by Mr Anthony Pickford (‘the Complainant’) from a decision of an Adjudication Officer (ADJ-00053542/CA-00065364-001, dated 15 January 2025) under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 (‘the Act’). Notice of Appeal was received in the Court on 21 January 2025. The Court heard the appeal in Limerick on 4 March 2026.

Brief Factual Background

The Complainant was employed at Busy Kids Creche, Ennis Road Limerick between 19 September 2016 until his resignation on 14 September 2022. The legal entity by whom the Complainant was employed is Sonas Childcare Limited.

The Complainant referred his originating complaint under the Act to the Workplace Relations Commission on 8 August 2024, some twenty-three months after his resignation from the Respondent’s employment had taken effect. The Adjudication Officer held that he was precluded from entertaining the complaint as it had been referred “outside the maximum timeframe possible under the legislation i.e. 12 months”.

The Law

Section 8(2) of the Act provides:

“(2) A claim for redress under this Act shall be initiated by giving a notice in writing (containing such particulars (if any) as may be specified in regulations under subsection (17) of section 41 of the Act of 2015) to the Director General—

(a) within the period of 6 months beginning on the date of the relevant dismissal, or

(b) within such period not exceeding 12 months from the date of the relevant dismissal as the adjudication officer considers appropriate, in circumstances where the adjudication officer is satisfied that the giving of the notice within the period referred to in paragraph (a) was prevented due to reasonable cause, and a copy of the notice shall be given by the Director General to the employer concerned as soon as may be after the receipt of the notice by the Director General.”

Application of the Law

Section 8(2) of the Act permits an Adjudication Officer to allow a Complainant to extend time for bringing a complaint beyond the initial six-month time limit for doing so, where the Complainant has demonstrated reasonable cause for the delay. However, the maximum extension permissible is for a further six months only i.e. a complaint under the Act can only be considered if received by the Workplace Relations Commission within twelve months of the date of the relevant dismissal.

In this case, the Complainant delayed almost twenty-three months from the date of his resignation before submitting his complaint under the Act. The complainant is therefore well outside the maximum timeframe provided for in section 8(2).

Decision

For the reasons set out above, the Court uphold the decision of the Adjudication Officer. The appeal, accordingly, fails.

The Court so decides.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Alan Haugh
AR	______________________
11/03/2026	Deputy Chairman

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Decision should be addressed to Mr Aidan Ralph, Court Secretary.