Complainant

Respondent

Parties

John  Grennan

Capita Customer Solutions

Representatives

Self-represented

Lorna O Sullivan  NFP, HR Solutions

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

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

CA-00075690-001

24/09/2025

This matter was heard by way of remote hearing pursuant to the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2020 and S.I. No. 359/2020 which designates the WRC as a body empowered to hold remote hearings.

At the completion of the hearing, I took the time to review all the oral evidence together with the written submissions made by the parties. The respective positions of the parties are noted, and a broad outline of the evidence and cross examination is provided.  I am not required to provide a line-by-line assessment of the evidence and submissions that I have rejected or deemed superfluous to the main findings.  I am guided by the reasoning in Faulkner v. The Minister for Industry and Commerce [1997] E.L.R. 107 where it was held that a

“…minute analysis or reasons are not required to be given by administrative tribunals...the duty on administrative tribunals to give reasons in their decisions is not a particularly onerous one.  Only broad reasons need be given…”.

The complainant and a witness for the respondent undertook to give evidence under affirmation.  Cross examination was facilitated.

It was accepted by both parties that the complainant’s annual salary was €29,432

The complainant submitted that his employer did not provide him with details of his updated role when he was assigned to a new position.

In evidence he stated that he was in a customer service position from February 2023, originally dealing with calls and emails from customers.  He stated that his role changed when he was assigned to the Escalation’s Unit in April 2025.  He stated that following this change he was given a larger range of ad-hoc projects to do including training colleagues.  He was also required to train 3rd party specialists in the escalations field who were not company employees.  He outlined that he was also required to write 3rd party contractor reviews and suggested that these duties were not encompassed by the job description that he was initially given when he started with the respondent.

The respondent submitted that there has been no change in the complainant’s role in that he remains a customer service advisor.  It was noted that the complainant is dissatisfied with his workload and the expectations place upon him.

The witness for the respondent (a HR Business Partner) outlined all the roles in the Escalations Unit were staffed by customer service advisors, similar to the complainant.  She noted that the unit deals with quite complex cases.  She was not in a position to confirm the numbers of staff who were involved with training 3rd party client staff however.

The complainant stated that he started with the employer in February 2023 and stated that his job changed in April 2025.

Section 3 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act provides an outline of what an employer is required to provide to an employee.  It states as follows:

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.

(1B) Where a statement under subsection (1A) contains an error or omission, the statement shall be regarded as complying with the provisions of that subsection if it is shown that the error or omission was made by way of a clerical mistake or was otherwise made accidentally and in good faith.

Section 5(1) of the Act is concerned with the notification of Changes and states as follows:

5.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), whenever a change is made or occurs in any of the particulars of the statement furnished by an employer under section 3, 4 or 6, the employer shall notify the employee in writing of the nature and date of the change as soon as may be thereafter, but not later than—

(a) the day on which the change takes effect, or

(b) where the change is consequent on the employee being required to work outside the State for a period of more than 1 month, the time of the employee’s departure.

The respondent submitted that it was compliant with the legislation in place regarding there terms of employment information provided to all of its employees.

The complainant in this case was provided with a very basic outline of the detail of his employment in line with (1A) (h)(i) & (ii) of the Act.  His contract of employment included the following text:

Your normal duties will be those appropriate to your job description. We may at any time transfer you to any part of our business, or require you to do alternative or additional duties, if this is reasonably required for the purposes of our business. You will be expected to perform all duties to the required standards at all times during the course of your employment, as set out by The Company and where appropriate The Company’s client.

The text of his job description is outlined as follows:

Provide top class customer service to each customer you speak with by living the core values of the client. Be helpful, understanding and simplify old customer interactions.

-        Achieve KPI’s such as Quality and NPS on a monthly basis

-        project professional and customer focused impression of the company

-        handle objections effectively

-        become empowered to make decisions and improve standards

-        address all complaints of the customers make sure that they are resolved in time within the given guidelines

-        ensure feedback is related to supervisors should any of the standards or procedures require change due to system or business requirements

-        pipeline development and active management of prospects

-        daily activity success against company key performance indicators

-        meet the agreed standard levels of quality

-        insure premium level of client satisfaction in one phone call - one call resolution.

The complainant outlined in his oral evidence that over the duration of his employment changed. He was assigned to the Escalations Unit, and he became more involved in training of more junior colleagues.  He stated that he considered that this was part of the flexibility expected of him.  However, he objected to training 3rd party specialists in the escalations field who were not company employees.  He also outlined that he was also required to write 3rd party contractor reviews and suggested that these duties were not encompassed by the job description that he was initially given when he started with the respondent.

Having considered the very generic and brief job description provided to the complainant when he first started the job in February 2023 and the change in the work which was required of the complainant over the following years, I am not satisfied that the generic job description provided to the complainant kept pace with the description of the duties he was required to carry out.  In particular, I am satisfied that the elements of training and assessment of 3rd party contractors which was added to his range of duties was not encompassed by the generic description provided to him.

I am satisfied that that the respondent did not provide the complainant with the information required under Section 5(1) of the Act.  Accordingly, I find that the complaint is well founded and that the Act has been breached.

The employer is required under Section 7(2) of the Act to provide the complainant with a job specification/description that correlates to the tasks and duties that he is regularly required to carry out.

I also consider that compensation equivalent to four weeks remuneration is just and equitable having regard to all the circumstances of this complaint, i.e. €2264.

Having regard to all the written and oral evidence presented in relation to this complaint, my decision is that the complaint is well founded and that the Act has been contravened.  I direct the respondent to provide the provide the complainant with an accurate job specification/description that correlates to the tasks and duties that he is regularly required to carry out.

I further order the employer to pay the complainant compensation in the amount of €2264 which I consider to be just and equitable in all the circumstances of this complaint.

Terms of Employment Information Act – well founded complaint – Act contravened – direction to provide accurate job description – order for compensation