James King was awarded €13,855 after the Workplace Relations Commission found he had been unfairly dismissed by Height For Hire Limited. The WRC decision was dated 16 August 2022.
King worked as an area sales manager from 5 January 2015 until 29 September 2020. He said his redundancy dismissal was unfair and that commission or bonus payments had been withheld. The company said Covid-19 losses led it to restructure and cut jobs across departments and locations.
The WRC accepted that the company had incurred losses but found it had not acted fairly or reasonably in selecting King for redundancy. The decision cited a lack of meaningful consultation, no selection matrix and no evidence that practical alternatives, such as reduced hours, had been considered.
The WRC awarded €13,855 compensation for unfair dismissal, comprising €3,855 for losses up to 4 November 2020 and a further €10,000 for the ongoing salary difference after King found lower-paid work. This compensation was separate from any redundancy payment. The WRC found wages properly payable had not been withheld, so the wages complaint was not well founded; a third complaint was withdrawn at the hearing.