Metropolitan Films ordered to pay Frank Matthews €8,125 over defective employment terms

The Workplace Relations Commission ordered Metropolitan Films International Limited to pay film-set plasterer Frank Matthews €8,125 after finding that his written employment terms gave the wrong employer name and address and an incorrect start date. The WRC decision was dated 15 December 2023. Matthews said he had worked for the group since 2001, with breaks between productions, and was laid off after Vikings Six in November 2018. He said he was not called back when production resumed and believed his union membership was the reason. The company argued he worked for separate production companies and that his complaints were out of time. The officer found he was an employee of Metropolitan Films International Limited and that the complaints were submitted in time. The WRC found his complaint under the Terms of Employment (Information) Act well founded and awarded four weeks’ pay, calculated as €8,125. It found his unpaid wages complaint not well founded, reasoning that he had accepted the established lay-off arrangement and wages were not due for periods when he did no work. His working-time complaint was withdrawn.