The Workplace Relations Commission awarded Paul Gallagher €4,800 after finding he was constructively dismissed by Donaghys Leisure Ltd trading as Donaghys Bar & Restaurant. It also awarded him €960 for conceded holiday and bank-holiday pay. The decision was dated 6 September 2023.
Gallagher said his employer demoted him from bar manager, cut his hourly pay from €15 to €11 and refused to restore his previous terms, so he resigned. The officer found the unilateral pay cut was a fundamental breach of contract amounting to constructive dismissal. The €4,800 compensation was assessed as eight weeks of loss; the officer also considered Gallagher had not provided evidence of efforts to limit his losses and that pub work was unavailable at times during the pandemic.
The respondent disputed the WRC's jurisdiction over the dismissal complaint, but the officer found Gallagher had worked in the pub business for more than a year. The duplicate unfair-dismissal complaint and a TUPE complaint were withdrawn. The minimum-notice, terms-of-employment and Sunday-premium complaints were not well founded; the latter two were outside the time limit and the WRC had no jurisdiction to decide them.