WRC awards Patricia De Oliveira Moura €2,684 redundancy payment

The Workplace Relations Commission awarded Patricia De Oliveira Moura €2,684 in statutory redundancy pay after finding that her employer had laid her off for more than six months and dismissed her by reason of redundancy. In a decision dated 28 July 2022, the WRC also ordered Colm De Ris Irish Pottery Limited to pay her €800, equivalent to two weeks’ minimum notice, and €400 compensation for failing to provide written terms of employment. Moura worked as a general operative from July 2016 until her employment ended in July 2019. She said she had received no written terms, minimum notice or redundancy payment. The company argued that her claims were out of time and disputed when her employment ended and whether she had resigned. The adjudication officer found her last day was 27 July 2019 and that she had not resigned on 16 July. All three complaints were within time. The officer found that she was underpaid over a long period, but the underpayments were resolved by September or October 2019; that she qualified for two weeks’ notice after just over three years’ service; and that her lay-off exceeded six months, entitling her to statutory redundancy pay.