Fozia Rafiq loses fixed-term work complaint at WRC

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

Fozia Rafiq’s complaint under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act was not well founded, the Workplace Relations Commission decided on 24 May 2023. The adjudication hearing took place on 27 May 2022.

Rafiq said the State of Kuwait treated her less favourably as a fixed-term employee, including through its disciplinary process. Adjudication officer Maire Mulcahy accepted that the respondent had failed to apply fair procedures and had denied Rafiq representation and an appeal against the disciplinary sanctions.

Mulcahy found that the complaint could not succeed because Rafiq had not identified a comparable permanent employee, as the Act required, and could not rely on a hypothetical comparator.

Mulcahy also found that the WRC had jurisdiction to hear the complaint, rejecting the State’s claim of sovereign immunity. The substantive complaint was found not well founded.