WRC finds supermarket chain not liable for shop worker’s full redundancy payment

The WRC found a supermarket chain was not liable for a shop worker’s full redundancy payment in a decision dated 13 June 2017. The adjudicator found the worker was entitled to redundancy pay for their full service, but the chain was not responsible for the earlier service. The worker said they had worked at the shop since 2007 and that their rights transferred when the chain took over in June 2014. The business closed in July 2016. The chain said it had only a caretaker arrangement and that ownership had not transferred. The WRC found there had been no sale or agreed commercial terms establishing the chain’s liability for the earlier redundancy payments. The chain had volunteered to cover liability for its own operating period, from June 2014 to July 2016.