WRC dismisses weekly-hours complaint against Oriel Sea Salt as out of time

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found Stephen Jennings’s complaint against Oriel Sea Salt Company Limited over weekly working hours was not well founded because it was out of time. The decision was dated 29 August 2023; the merits were not decided. Jennings alleged that the company required him to work more than the weekly-hours limit under the Organisation of Working Time Act. The company denied breaching the Act and argued that he had not brought the complaint within six months of his last day at work. Jennings lodged the complaint on 2 February 2022, nearly 12 months after he last worked there. He had gone on unpaid sick leave from 4 February 2021. The adjudication officer accepted the company’s argument that Jennings had issued other WRC complaints around March 2021 when considering whether reasonable cause explained the delay.