Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 March 2014
145. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the reason a person (details supplied) in County Kildare has not received their due wages and holiday pay; the mechanisms available to them; if they are entitled to redundancy payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10526/14]
View answerGenerally, where an employment has ended and an employee is owed wages, an employee may take a case to the Rights Commissioners Service under the Payment of Wages Act 1991 in order to claim outstanding payments such as arrears of wages and payments in lieu of untaken annual leave or any public holiday benefit outstanding. Under the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts, an employee who has a minimum of 13 weeks’ service with an employer is entitled to notice of termination of employment. The length of notice to which an employee is entitled is dependant on the length of service of the employee and can range between one week’s notice for an individual with less than 2 years’ service up to eight weeks’ notice for an individual with more than fifteen years’ service. Where an employer is unable to provide or does not provide the appropriate notice, then the employer may make a payment in lieu of the notice. An employee who does not receive the minimum notice entitlements may take a case to the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
Under the Protection of Employment Act 1977, companies proposing collective redundancies must enter into consultation with the employee representatives at least 30 days before anyone receives notice of redundancy. They must also notify the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation of the proposed redundancies at least 30 days before any employee receives notice of redundancy. The consultation with the employee representatives and the notification period for the Minister can run concurrently.
In accordance with the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2012, employees who have at least two years’ continuous service with an employer are generally entitled to a statutory redundancy payment in the event of being made redundant. The administration of the Redundancy Payments legislation is within the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, who has advised that it is the responsibility of the employer to pay statutory redundancy to all eligible employees. However, where an employer can prove to the satisfaction of the Department of Social Protection that he/she is unable to pay statutory redundancy to his/her eligible employees, that Department will make lump sum payments directly to those employees. Such payments are made from the Social Insurance Fund and result in a debt being raised against the employer which the Department of Social Protection will seek to recover. Where an employer either fails to comply with his or her Redundancy payment obligations or where there is a dispute regarding redundancy entitlements, claims may be referred by the employee to the Employment Appeals Tribunal. There is a time limit of 52 weeks for such redundancy claims but, in certain circumstances, a claim will be considered up to two years after the redundancy at the discretion of the Tribunal and where reasonable cause is shown.
Where an employer is legally insolvent (liquidation, receivership, bankruptcy etc.) and, as a result, defaults on payment of wages and other entitlements, an employee may be entitled to seek redress from the State under the Insolvency Payments Scheme which is operated by my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection. These payments also cover overtime, holiday pay, sick pay etc. In these circumstances, redundancy payment entitlements may also be made from the Social Insurance Fund.
In terms of the specific case raised by the Deputy, I am informed by the Minister for Social Protection that the person in question made a claim for arrears of wages, holiday pay and minimum notice under the Insolvency Payments Scheme which is operated by that Department. That claim was awarded and payment issued to the liquidator on 9 November 2012. The Department of Social Protection has advised that, if the person has not received that payment from the liquidator, he should contact the liquidator’s office.
Further, the Department of Social Protection has not received any claim for a statutory redundancy payment in respect of the person concerned. One of the qualifying conditions for a statutory redundancy payment is that the person must have at least two years continuous service with the relevant employer. In this case, the information supplied on the person’s insolvency scheme application indicates that he has less than 12 months service. That being the case he would not qualify for a statutory redundancy payment.
The Information Unit of the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) has been restructured and expanded to form a new Workplace Relations Customer Service Section which provides information on employees’ rights and how to obtain redress if employees’ rights have been infringed, and it can be contacted at Lo-call: 1890 80 80 90 and at website www.workplacerelations.ie
