Brian Mathias refused redundancy over Covid lay-off at WRC

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Brian Mathias’s redundancy claim was rejected by the Workplace Relations Commission after a hearing on 29 April 2022. His bar supervisor job at the Plaza Hotel in Tallaght was not redundant, and Covid emergency legislation prevented him from claiming a redundancy payment.

Mathias had worked at Grumpy’s Bar in the hotel since 27 August 2005 and was promoted to bar supervisor in October 2008. The hotel closed for refurbishment on 27 January 2020, with staff laid off while it was expected to last three months.

The adjudication officer found that the hotel remained due to reopen and that Mathias’s job remained available. Section 12A of the Redundancy Payments Act prevented a redundancy claim by an employee laid off during the Covid emergency period; the complaint was found not well founded.