The Workplace Relations Commission awarded Kate Sheppard €8,000 for unfair dismissal and €1,000 in redress for unpaid annual leave, finding that her employer, Bacstroke Entertainment Ltd Trading as Ministry Of Makers, constructively dismissed her. The decision was dated 21 February 2023.
Sheppard was placed on lay-off during the pandemic. She said the company failed to tell her about work returning and gave design work to another designer. The company said there was no work in 2020, denied dismissing her and later offered her job back. The adjudicator found work had returned in 2021, including work assigned to a contractor, but Sheppard was not consulted about resuming duties.
The adjudicator found Sheppard was entitled to treat the company’s conduct as ending her employment. Constructive dismissal is when an employee leaves because the employer’s conduct makes continuing the job unreasonable. The adjudicator awarded €8,000 compensation and noted that Sheppard had mitigated her loss by starting a new role in September 2021. The separate €1,000 annual leave redress was for a breach of a statutory right, not unpaid wages.
The public holiday complaint was brought outside the time limit and was found not well-founded; the merits were not decided. The redundancy and notice pay complaints were also found not well-founded.